Glaze - Manitoba ASCD

2011
Manitoba ASCD
Inside This Issue...
A Message From the Editor....................................................................................................................... 3
President’s Message................................................................................................................................... 5
Manitoba ASCD Board of Directors and Committee Members 2010-2011........................................ 6
To Nurture Caring and Empathy in Children: Let’s Rely on
Modeling and Action, Not Lecturing
Robert Brooks................................................................................................................................................... 7
Language: The Critical Tool in Creating Healthy Learning Environments
Anthony Muhammad.......................................................................................................................................12
Whole Child Education: by John P. Miller
Book Review by Gary Babiuk..........................................................................................................................16
Character Development: Education at its Best
Avis Glaze.......................................................................................................................................................18
The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business: by Dennis Littky
Book Review by Jerome Cranston....................................................................................................................24
Boys in Crisis?
Joe Thiessen...................................................................................................................................................28
Slices of Life: Managing Dilemmas in Middle Grades Teaching
by David Mandzuk and Shelley Hasinoff, An Overview.....................................................................................29
The Shaftesbury High Altitude Robotics Project
Robert Striemer..............................................................................................................................................31
Start Where They Are: by Karen Hume
Book Review by Brad Burns............................................................................................................................36
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Manitoba ASCD
Under the Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom Tree: Creating
Independent Student Writers in Grade One
Jacqueline Neufeld and Jolene Boult...............................................................................................................38
The Whole Child as Whole Citizen: the Importance of Inclusion of Immigrant and
Refugee Children’s Voices in Citizenship Education
Stephanie Yamniuk..........................................................................................................................................44
Spiritual Dimension of the Whole Child
Gary Babiuk...................................................................................................................................................48
Education for Sustainable Development at Landmark Collegiate
Greg Sawatzky................................................................................................................................................55
Social Justice
Hannah Wiebe................................................................................................................................................57
Beginning an ASCD Student Chapter by Starting with Year Two
Jerome Cranston and Mary Jane MacLennan..................................................................................................59
Manitoba ASCD Action Research Grant Information..........................................................................61
Re-Imagining High School: Supporting Youth in High Poverty Contexts
Sheila Giesbrecht............................................................................................................................................62
ASCD Canadian Education Network 2010-2011 Report
Shelley Hasinoff..............................................................................................................................................66
Manitoba ASCD Professional Learning Events for 2011-2012...........................................................69
Call for Submissions, Reflections Journal 2012..................................................................................70
Membership to Manitoba ASCD..............................................................................................................72
Manitoba ASCD Members if you have changed schools for the upcoming school
year, or if you are retiring, please contact us at [email protected] with your new
mailing address/email to help us ensure our learning community stays connected.
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Manitoba ASCD
A Message from the Editor...
Our theme for this year’s journal focuses on education of the whole
child. As you read through the many contributions to our journal this
year, you will recognize the broad scope of this topic, and be reminded of the complex nature of bringing up children in an educational
environment of competence and purpose that prepares them for lifelong success.
As ASCD has so clearly articulated in their 2011 publication, “Making the Case for Educating the Whole Child” :
“A child who enters school healthy and feels safe is ready to learn. A student who feels connected to school is more likely to stay in school. All students who have access to challenging
and engaging student programs are better prepared for further education, work, and civic
life. These components must work together, not in isolation. That is the goal of whole child
education.”
Our Manitoba educators, through sharing their experience and research with us, offer a broad perspective on the relevance of educating children with the whole child in mind.
Evidence of the power of actively engaging students in learning that is connected to their broader
community reveals itself in the stories of social justice and sustainable development at Landmark
Collegiate, and in the high altitude robotics program, SHARP, at Shaftesbury High School. The
significance of educating children so they see themselves as contributing citizens finds a voice in
Stephanie Yamniuk’s paper on immigrant and refugee children.
The importance of educators’ efforts to encourage school and community programs that nurture
emotionally and physically healthy young children resonates in Dr. Avis Glaze’s article on character development, and in Dr. Robert Brooks’ views on the importance of modeling caring and
empathy for young learners. Gary Babiuk pushes us to consider the necessity of recognizing the
“inner life” or spirituality inherent in human nature so that our efforts to create learning environments within and beyond our schools will nurture the whole child. Dr. Anthony Muhammad further emphasizes the qualities necessary for creating a healthy school culture that believes in the
ability of every child.
From encouraging an environment of independence and purpose for grade one readers and writers in Winnipeg’s inner city school, to identifying and supporting gender differences in learning
in our Manitoba classrooms, to acknowledging the broader impact of socio-economic and cultural
factors on student success, we are reminded in this publication of the amazing capacity of children
to flourish when they are provided with personalized learning that is supported by qualified and
caring adults.
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Manitoba ASCD
Such are the challenges and rewards to be experienced in our efforts to educate the whole child.
The information that we share with you in this journal would suggest our educators are recognizing
and reaping the benefits of meeting those challenges. Once you’ve read about their experiences we
are certain you will agree.
Brenda Lanoway
Editor
About Manitoba ASCD
Mission
Manitoba ASCD is a community of learners committed to enhancing teaching, learning,
and leadership by reflecting on current educational research, by engaging in various forms
of professional learning, and by providing a forum for non-partisan dialogue about education.
Vision
Manitoba ASCD is a highly visible and respected educational organization responsive to
the needs of its membership. Valued for its non-partisan voice on issues of teaching, learning, and leadership; Manitoba ASCD engages a large, diverse membership in quality professional learning.
We are an intricately connected organization providing regular, frequent forums and networking opportunities to support professional growth at all levels of the educational community.
Beliefs
Manitoba ASCD Believes:
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The individual has intrinsic worth.
All people have the ability and the need to learn as well as the capacity to learn.
A safe and caring environment that supports risk-taking and innovation is essential for
learning.
Diversity should be honoured, protected, and promoted.
A high quality, inclusive system of education is important for society to flourish.
Society is strengthened when people work together for the greater good.
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Manitoba ASCD
President’s Message
The 2011 Reflections journal continues to explore the importance
and varied facets of student engagement. The deeper and more extensive the conversation, the more one comes to understand the critical role that educators play in the equation.
As you have the opportunity to read the numerous submissions from
local and international writers, you will notice that the scope embraces the whole child. Molly McCloskey, managing director of
ASCD Whole Child Programs articulates a broader understanding of
what educating the whole child entails. “Instead of basing student
success only on academic achievement or test scores, a whole child education provides additional
skills to help students succeed in life and the workforce”. (Educational Leadership: May 2011;
Vol. 68 No. 8, P81). This concept is reflected in the articles.
Thank you to everyone who submitted an article for the journal – your perspective will assist in
increasing understanding and building capacity. A special note of thanks to Hannah Wiebe, a
Grade 12 student at Landmark Collegiate, for her reflective perspective on the role of social justice
within her school.
We are also excited to have a Student Chapter at the University of Manitoba spread its wings. Providing support and opportunities to pre-service teachers are important components in supporting
our classrooms, and you have the opportunity to learn more about it.
Every educator strives to meet the needs of each one of their students who are on a journey to
develop academic and leadership capacity, contributing to their school and community in rich and
tangible ways. I invite you to enjoy the articles in this journal, and consider the ideas presented in
connection to your work with students.
On behalf of Manitoba ASCD and its Board of Directors, I want to thank the journal contributors
for assisting us in better understanding how to inspire and support our students. Thank you also to
journal editor, Brenda Lanoway, who has been diligently crafting the journal this year.
Barb Isaak
Manitoba ASCD President
“Manitoba ASCD’s journal, Reflections, is not an official publication of ASCD; and,
as such, its content may not always reflect the views of that organization.”
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Manitoba ASCD
Board of Directors 2010-2011
Committee Members 2010-2011
Past President: Tom Code
River East Transcona School Division
Communications Committee
President: Barb Isaak
River East Transcona School Division
President Elect: Lorraine de Monyé
Independent Schools
Secretary: Brad Burns
Pembina Trails School Division
Treasurer: Jayesh Maniar
Winnipeg School Division
Director: Larry Budzinski
Manitoba Education
Director: Brenda Augusta
River East Transcona School Division
Director: Jerome Cranston
University of Manitoba
Director: Andrea Loepp
Louis Riel School Division
Director: Bruce Neal
Independent Schools
Director: Shelley Hasinoff
Manitoba Education
Executive Secretary: Paulette Migie
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Barb Isaak (chair)
Tracey Caldwell
Tim Dittrick
John Mueller
Tanis Ziprick
Ryan Land
Brenda Lanoway (journal editor)
Membership Committee
Lorraine de Monyé (chair)
Larry Budzinski
Jerome Cranston
Michelle Polinuk
George Ross
Matthew Gustafson
Professional Learning Committee
Brenda Augusta
Brad Burns (co-chair)
Hadass Eviatar
Phyllis Geddert
Barb Isaak
Andrea Loepp
Donna Nentwig
Jayesh Maniar (co-chair)
Linda Thorlakson
Warren Nickerson
Jacquie Neufeld
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Manitoba ASCD
To Nurture Caring and Empathy
in Children: Let’s Rely on Modeling
and Action, Not Lecturing
Dr. Robert Brooks, Educational Consultant and Researcher
During the past month I have had the opportunity to speak with thousands of staff, faculty, and administrators in school districts
throughout the United States as they prepare
for the new school year. I am often asked
to describe those mindsets and strategies that
enrich the social and emotional climate of a
classroom—a climate in which motivation,
learning, and hope are reinforced in students.
One key message in all of my talks is the
importance of providing students with opportunities to contribute to the well-being
of others, activities that promote empathy,
compassion, and resilience. My decision to
devote this month’s article to this topic was
based, in part, upon reading a piece written
by Maia Szalavitz titled “How Not to Raise
a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy.” The
article was published on the Time website.
Szalavitz writes, “Over the past decade, research in empathy—the ability to put ourselves in another’s shoes—has suggested that
it is key, if not the key, to all human social interaction and morality... Although human nature
has historically been seen as essentially selfish, recent science suggests that it is not. The
capacity for empathy is believed to be innate in
most humans, as well as some other species.”
Szalavitz quotes Dachar Keltner, professor of
psychology at the University of California,
Berkeley, and author of Born to Be Good: The
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Science of a Meaningful Life, who contends,
“Instead of starting from the assumption that
you have to beat the badness out of a child,
turn on that empathy and compassion switch.”
“A child’s capacity for empathy can further be encouraged
when parents model empathetic behavior themselves. When
parents treat other people with
compassion, selflessness, and a
lack of judgment, children copy
those behaviors.”
Mary Gordon is also cited by Szalavitz. Gordon is founder of the Roots of Empathy program, a program that has been implemented
in 3,000 elementary and middle schools in
Canada and 40 schools in Seattle. The children observe a visiting parent and infant interact in the classroom about once a month. The
experience is used to help the children think
about why an infant might be crying. Gordon notes, “We love when we have a colicky
baby because then the mother usually tells
the class how frustrating and annoying it is
when the baby won’t stop crying. That gives
children insight into the parent’s perspective. If you look at the development of empathy, one of the key features is perspectivetaking. In coaching that skill, we help them
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to take the perspective of their classmates.”
In emphasizing the role that parents and other
adults play in modeling empathy, Gordon asserts, “Empathy can’t be taught, but it can be
caught.” Szalavitz concurs, “A child’s capacity
for empathy can further
be encouraged when parents model empathetic
behavior
themselves.
When parents treat other
people with compassion,
selflessness, and a lack
of judgment, children
copy those behaviors.”
Too often in our roles as
parents or other caregivers we fall into the
trap of “lecturing” to children about demonstrating caring and kindness. Instead we
should model these behaviors and also provide children with opportunities in which
they can express compassion and kindness.
I continue to be impressed with those parents
and educators who have replaced lecturing
with activities that allow youngsters to experience first-hand the satisfaction of displaying empathy, altruism, and caring. The
following are two illustrations of this point.
SMARTS Leadership and
Mentoring Program
ResearchILD and ILD (Institute for Learning and Development) in Lexington, MA
are sister organizations headed by Drs. Lynn
Meltzer and Bethany Roditi. They, together with their staff of researchers, educators,
and clinicians, are dedicated to assisting
children, adolescents, and adults with learning, attentional, or behavioral struggles to
confront and manage these difficulties and
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lead more productive lives. I have known
Lynn and Bethany for almost 30 years and
value their friendship and admire their work.
One program that they founded is called
SMARTS, which is described as “a unique
leadership program that
creates a community
of students with learning and attentional differences who help each
other to develop selfunderstanding, self-confidence, persistence, and
resilience, the pathways
to success.” It is beyond
the scope of this article to
describe in detail the many facets and goals
of SMARTS. Please visit the ResearchILD
website www.researchild.org, or more specifically, www.researchild.org/smarts/Home.
html to gain a more comprehensive portrait
of this impressive program. I would like to
summarize several facets of SMARTS, especially focusing on the role of the mentor.
The SMARTS Program pairs high school and
college age mentors who have been successful in dealing with learning problems with
younger students who have similar difficulties. A well-organized curriculum is used to
help the mentors become more knowledgeable about their own learning style and to
develop strategies to improve the ways in
which they learn. Mentors meet with professional staff and also interact with each
other for support. Mentors, in turn, share
their insights and strategies with mentees.
I have long advocated mentor-mentee programs as a format for nurturing self-esteem,
motivation, and resilience in both groups. In
my clinical practice I have witnessed first-
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hand the benefits of having my patients with
learning problems assist others. It offers a
concrete way for them to appreciate that
whatever struggles and vulnerabilities they
experience, they also have gifts to share. This
past spring I had the opportunity to hear several mentors of the SMARTS Program speak
at a conference. I asked one of the presenters,
Kayla Masterman, if I might interview her
for a future website article. Kayla accepted
the invitation, very willing to share her story.
Kayla graduated from high school this
past spring and recently began her freshman year at Union College in Schenectady,
New York. I especially wanted to interview Kayla given her poise and ability to
describe the SMARTS Program and my
long-standing relationship with her family.
Kayla’s mother, Dr. Andrea Masterman, was
a psychology intern at McLean Hospital 30
years ago, and I was one of her supervisors.
I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Kayla.
She informed me that she
was tested in first grade
and diagnosed with dyslexia and ADD. She noted
that for a number of years
she did not want to think of
these diagnoses and would
become uncomfortable if
anyone mentioned dyslexia or ADD. “Only a few
friends in middle school
knew I had dyslexia, it was
a secret of mine. However
at ILD I felt comfortable
discussing it and gradually
I accepted it.” Kayla added that she had accommodations in high school and learned
to be an advocate for herself. When I asked
how she felt about starting college, she rePage 9
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sponded that she was excited and thought she
was well-prepared to manage the demands
of college and continue advocating for any
accommodations that she might require.
I inquired about her experiences as a mentor in the SMARTS Program. Kayla enthusiastically described her interaction with
and support from other mentors, what the
program taught her about her own learning
style, and how she could apply this knowledge in her conversations with her mentees.
She recounted the challenge and fun of planning for events that occurred on a regular
basis among the various mentors and mentees in the program as well as discussions
she had with her own individual mentees.
I asked Kayla to describe the impact that the
SMARTS Program had on her. She replied,
“Helping younger kids get to where they are
felt so good.” Kayla observed that her last
mentee reminded her of herself years ago
when she did not want to speak about her
learning problems. Kayla displayed empathy
towards this mentee, sharing her early struggles; this
openness allowed her mentee to feel more at ease in
revealing her belief that she
was not very smart. The
mentee’s progress boosted
Kayla’s own self-esteem as
she experienced the joy of
having a positive impact on
the life of another person.
Kayla concluded, “I’m not
ashamed of having dyslexia and ADD at all. The
SMARTS Program helped me to realize it
was okay to have learning differences. I feel
so comfortable now about it and can’t believe that at one time I wanted to keep it a
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secret. My feelings helped me to understand
how the younger kids might be feeling.”
As I listened to Kayla’s journey, I was impressed by her insight, positive outlook,
and resilience. In addition, I was aware
that just as her mentees had benefited appreciably from their interaction with Kayla,
she in turn, had benefited from her interaction with them as her own feelings of empathy, caring, and acceptance were reinforced.
The Creativity of an Assistant
Principal
Randy Bolton is an assistant principal at an
elementary school in Osceola, Iowa. Randy
heard me speak at a conference in which I
emphasized the need to adopt a strengthbased approach when working with challenging students. I expressed
the opinion that too often
our thinking centers around
how to punish these students
rather than finding ways to
nurture their self-dignity. I
described interventions used
in different programs as well
as those that I had personally
implemented with seemingly
angry, unmotivated students;
I especially highlighted strategies that involved asking
these students to help others.
Randy wrote me within a week of my presentation to say that he had already begun
to apply this strategy. “I’m working with
a fifth-grade boy who doesn’t want to be in
school, talks back to adults, fails to complete
homework, etc. I mentioned that I had a really important job for him. He immediately
said, Yes!! I asked if he wanted to know
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what it was first and he said no, that if it was
something I thought was important for him,
he’d do it. I said that we had a first-grader
who really needs someone to read to him.
The fifth-grade boy said that he could really
help the first-grader! His fifth-grade teacher
told me that he told all of his classmates that
he had a very important job that was going
to impact a first-grader.” Randy added that
three more students were set up to work with
some other kindergarten and first-graders and
that he looked forward to seeing how things
progressed in the last five weeks of school.
I thanked Randy for informing me about what
he was doing and requested that he send me
a follow-up e-mail at the end of the school
year. Randy was kind enough to do so, and
he also gave me permission to share his experience with readers of my articles and attendees at my workshops.
In mid-June Randy wrote
and summarized what had
occurred in the last six
weeks of school when he
first began enlisting older
students to help younger
ones. He stated that he
had set up eight matches of
4-6th graders with K-2nd
graders. These pairs met
for about 10-15 minutes
twice every 6-day cycle.
Randy observed, “It was incredible to see
what happened. We have a kindergarten boy
that moved into our district after Christmas.
He struggles with his temper. He came into
school crying. One of our adult hall monitors
saw him crying and knew that I’ve worked
with him quite a bit. I caught up with him and
asked how I could help. He said I couldn’t,
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but ——- could. That was the name of the
6th grader that he was working with. I went
and got the student right away. The two met
for about 5-10 minutes. The kindergartener
went to class and his teacher said she hadn’t
known that he had come to school crying. I
never asked his partner what the issue was.”
Obviously the older child helped to calm
the younger child, allowing the latter to
enter the classroom without incident.
Randy continued, “I also had a parent of one
of our older students say that she was curious why her son ‘wanted’ to go to school during the month of May and the first week of
June. When she asked her son why, he commented, ‘I have an important job at school
helping a kindergarten boy to like school.’”
Randy described the success of the program
with the school board, whose members were
excited about what had been accomplished in
just six weeks. As a result Randy plans to implement the program on a wider scale this year.
Manitoba ASCD
He noted, “I even had older students come
to me asking to be a part of this program!”
A Concluding Thought
As my colleague Dr. Sam Goldstein and I
have written in our books about resilience,
we believe there is an “inborn” desire or need
within children to help others. I strongly
advocate that we encourage and reinforce
this desire by serving as empathic, compassionate models and by seeking ways in
which children can express and satisfy this
desire. As Kayla and Randy and many others have experienced, all parties involved
in these activities will be enriched and important lifelong values will be learned.
nn
This article has been reprinted with the
author’s permission.
Dr. Robert Brooks has lectured nationally and internationally to audiences of parents, educators, mental
health professionals, and business people on topics pertaining to motivation, resilience, self-esteem, family
relationships, the qualities of effective leaders and executives, and balancing our personal and professional
lives. He is the author or co-author of 14 books on these topics.
Dr. Brooks received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Clark University and did additional training
at the University of Colorado Medical School. He is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and has
served as Director of the Department of Psychology at McLean Hospital, a private psychiatric hospital. He
is the recipient of numerous awards for his life work in this field.
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Manitoba ASCD
Language: The Critical Tool
in Creating Healthy Learning
Environments
Dr. Anthony Muhammad, Educational Consultant and Researcher
As schools and systems struggle to focus and
align the talents of the diverse members of
their organization, one critical tool stands
out more than any other. That tool is language. Language is our auditory expression of thought.
Whoever controls the language
controls the organizational
thinking. During the three
years and 34 schools studied to create my book, Transforming School Culture: How
to Overcome Staff Division
(2009), there was a distinct difference between a “healthy”
school culture and a “toxic” school culture.
Healthy school cultures have been defined by Kent Peterson from the University of Wisconsin in the following manner:
dren, but it does not stop with just belief
alone. Healthy cultures also institutionalize
their belief through a series of policies and
practices that align with their belief system.
The practices of a healthy
culture are aligned with
their publicly stated belief in
the ability of every student.
Toxic
school
cultures
have also been defined by
Kent Peterson and he describes them like this:
Toxic cultures believe that
student success is based solely upon a students’ level of concern, attentiveness, prior knowledge, and willingness
to comply with the demands of the school,
and they articulate that belief in overt and
covert ways. Educators create policies
and procedures and adopt practices that
support their belief in the impossibility of
universal achievement. (Cromwell 2002)
Healthy school cultures have an unwavering belief in the ability of each student to
achieve success and they pass that belief
on to others in overt and covert ways. Educators create policies and procedures and
adopt practices that support their belief
in the ability of every student. (Cromwell
2002)
Like in a healthy culture, toxic cultures start
with a belief system, and that belief system
grows and metastasizes into being institutionalized through policies, practices, and
procedures.
Peterson’s definition gives us insight into
the inner-workings of a healthy and productive culture and his description informs
us that there are two major components. A
healthy culture begins with a belief in chil-
Organizational Language
Based upon the definition given by Kent Peterson on healthy and toxic culture, it is apparent that they are very different. The fo-
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cus of a healthy culture is on the success of
students and the term “unwavering”, within
its definition, describes the resolve of the
educators in those environments. The term
“unwavering” uncovers the fact that healthy
school cultures recognize that students will
arrive at school with different backgrounds,
readiness levels, support, and commitment,
but despite this diverse group of obstacles,
they stay steadfast in their goal of high
levels of learning for all of their students.
“Healthy school cultures have an
unwavering belief in the ability of
each student to achieve success
and they pass that belief on to
others in overt and covert ways.”
What language did educators use in a healthy
school culture? They used the language of
problem-solving. This language expressed
a certain level of pragmatism that understood that problems will always exist,
but the important thing is the way
that we process and react to
those problems. Schools
are infamously known
for their lack of predictability. Anytime you
take hundreds of students
from hundreds of different
backgrounds and try to create a harmonious organization with one well defined goal,
problems will arise. But, even
in the face of this challenge, the educators
that I studied practicing in healthy schools
displayed an unusual calm that allowed
them to analyze the problem, hypothesize,
and propose and develop an experiment
with the goal of eliminating the problem.
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How did this problem-solving based language sound? The first observable characteristic was calm. In the healthiest schools in
my study, they had a calm or coolness that
was very easily observed. Whenever a dilemma presented itself, they automatically
started discussing a course of action. It was
very natural. Healthy school cultures owned
their problems. Their language was prescriptive as opposed to descriptive. Like in
other schools, they got tired, angry, and even
frustrated, but their resolve did not change.
Some of the phrases that were very common in the face of a challenging event were:
•
•
•
•
What do we do about it?
Why do you think that happened?
Let’s discuss it later.
Who do we need to get involved to solve
this problem?
An important fact to note is that this language
and disposition was modeled by school site
administration in each and every case.
So, it is safe to say that leadership
sets the tone in the formal setting
for what teachers will discuss
and process in the informal
setting. The irony in this
situation is that site administration does not
get access to the
informal part of the
organization, so the application of the language
and disposition lie on the
shoulders of the teachers and
other non-administrative staff.
If healthy cultures have a language, what
is the language of a toxic culture? A toxic
culture’s language is rooted in frustration
and emotion. Their language is descriptive
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and not prescriptive. Unlike a healthy culture, a toxic culture assigns blame for problems instead of owning the problem and
collaborating to solve the problem. This
disowning of the problem does not create
an environment that nurtures self-reflection
and collaborative organizational movement.
When confronted with issues, toxic cultures
rely on an explanation of the problem in order to excuse themselves from any responsibility to solve the problem. So, consequently
the language of a toxic culture focuses exclusively on the external forces that make
their professional practice difficult and the
organizational goals unattainable. This language is rooted in exasperation and flabbergast. Language often heard in a toxic culture
when faced with a challenge or an obstacle:
•
•
•
•
I can’t believe that …happened!
This is ridiculous!
Can you believe…?
Someone needs to do something about
this! If only…this problem would not
exist.
If these phrases are a regular part of the interaction between staff members, the culture is toxic, and no meaningful growth
will happen until the paradigm of that culture changes. Toxic environments by nature, do not allow anything of value to grow.
Practice New Language
As America faces new and compelling challenges in our educational system, we have to
be poised to move with the times and deliver
the type of services that our community deserves. I recognize that change has to happen at every level (site leadership, district
leadership, and state and federal leadership)
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and I will deal seriously with these issues
in the very near future, but the most powerful place to start is in the teacher culture.
Teachers control the informal organization,
and the language of that segment of the organization is paramount to the growth of
schools. I would agree with many teachers
that leadership, in many cases, make their
jobs much more difficult than it needs to
be. But, we know from labor statistics that
the average tenure of a principal is 3.2 years
at a school site and the average tenure of a
teacher at a school site is 12.4 years (Sparks
2002). The teachers will be at a school a
lot longer than the average administrator.
School cultures are not considered “healthy”
or “toxic” based upon publicly stated beliefs and dogma. Their health or toxicity is
determined by the consistent day-to-day interactions of their members. What can you
control? You can control what you express
and what you allow others to express to you.
Avoid conversations and interactions where
the goal is to detach from issues and assign
blame to others. Challenge those who use
the informal venue to draw others into their
downward spiral of blame to use their energy
to come up with solutions to problems that are
apparent to all and will not solve themselves.
With practice and consistent application, you
will start to notice a new ethos. You will
start to see colleagues work together and use
their talents to make the school a happier and
more productive place for everyone. The line
between the formal and informal organizations will be erased. Trust will build and we
will not waste human capital and potential.
I am not promising that this new way of expression and focus will be easy, but it is well
worth it. Your school will sing a new song.
Are you willing to take the brave plunge?
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Manitoba ASCD
References
Cromwell, S. (2002). “Is Your School Culture
Toxic or Positive?” Education World 6(2):1.
nn
Sparks, D. (2002). High Performing Cultures Increase Teacher Retention. Results, National
Staff Development Council: 2.
As a practitioner of nearly twenty years, Dr. Muhammad has served as teacher, and principal, at middle
school and high school where he has earned several awards. Dr. Muhammad’s most notable accomplishment came as principal at Levey Middle School in Southfield, Michigan, a National School of Excellence,
where student proficiency on state assessments was more than doubled in five years. Dr. Muhammad and the
staff at Levey used the Professional Learning Communities at Work (PLC) model of school improvement,
and they have been recognized in several videos and articles as a model, high-performing PLC.
A popular educational consultant and researcher, Anthony Muhammad has published articles in several
publications in both the United States and Canada. He is a contributing author to the book The Collaborative Administrator: Working Together as a Professional Learning Community published in 2008. He also
authored Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division, published in 2009.
The University of Manitoba
ASCD Student Chapter
For more information about this professional learning organization for students at
the University of Manitoba in the Faculty of Education contact:
Dr. Jerome Cranston, Student Chapter Faculty Advisor: [email protected]
Sign up for your ASCD Student Chapter Membership at:
www.ascd.org/chapters
Page 15
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Manitoba ASCD
Whole Child Education
by John P. Miller
Book Review by Gary Babiuk, Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
John P. Miller, a professor in
the Department of Curriculum,
Teaching, and Learning at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University
of Toronto has
been writing in
the area of holistic learning and
spirituality in education for over
20 years. He has
been a consistent
voice for a balanced and integrated approach to teaching and
learning. His most recent book
is a synthesis of a holistic orientation to education. It is also
a response to the 2007 ASCD
Whole Child initiative that is
an attempt to refocus American
national educational policies
from just standardized testing,
Page 16
a major component of the No
Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, to a more
holistic approach
to children’s learning. Miller’s book
is also a review of
the current rethinking and review of
educational systems
occurring
around the world.
As summarized
in the forward of
the book, traditional approaches to education have
tended to be piecemeal and to
focus on test scores and narrowly defined parameters of
performance and achievement.
In Whole Child Education,
John P. Miller offers an alternative model that fosters relationships between various forms of
2011
thinking, links body and mind,
and recognizes the inner life of
the child.
The foundations for a holistic,
whole child focus on education
include the characteristics of balance, inclusion and interconnectedness. Miller outlines in detail
and practical terms the integration
and use of whole teaching, which
include the transmission (direct or
traditional teaching), transaction
(problem solving, inquiry and
scientific method), and transformation (interconnectedness with
life, wisdom) approaches. These
three orientations are not hierarchical but instead supportive and
inclusive of each other. “To teach
the whole child we need to use
a broad range of teaching strategies. If we use a limited number
of approaches, we will surely not
connect with the head, hands, and
heart of the child.”(p. 15)
In this concise and clearly written book the author provides a
philosophical foundation, practical strategies, and current school
examples for a whole child education. The chapters are divided
into focused overviews of whole
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Manitoba ASCD
teaching, whole curriculum,
whole school, and whole teacher.
In each of these chapters, Miller
outlines the characteristics of a
holistic view of education and
provides strategies, vignettes
and current examples to guide
readers. As one reviewer, David
Wright, (School of Education,
University of Western Sydney)
writes:
This is a refreshing, rewarding, and informative book.
With clarity of writing and
real-world examples from a
working school initiative, John
P. Miller makes his subject
matter accessible and exciting.
Whole Child Education is a
valuable addition to the ongoing discussion about the future
of education.
I believe that Miller’s message of
whole child education can assist
educators in their work to create
balanced, inclusive classrooms
that support children in seeing the
interconnected and holistic nature
of the world and help move all of
us toward a sustainable future.
nn
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Manitoba ASCD
Character Development:
Education at its Best
Dr. Avis Glaze, Education Consultant and Researcher
The key purposes of education, to my mind,
can be placed on a continuum. At the one end
is the instrumental notion that the purpose
of education is to prepare individuals for the
workforce. At the other end are loftier purposes. Plato, for example, said that the primary purpose of education is to create a more
just and harmonious society. In my view,
if we want a society in which citizens care
about one another - in which qualities such
as honesty, integrity, fairness, courage and
optimism are pervasive and violence of any
kind is discouraged - we have no choice but
to nurture these qualities in our homes, in our
schools and in our communities. So, I side
with Plato. These human
qualities are too important to be left
to
chance.
We must, I
believe, recommit ourselves to the
higher mission of
schooling - to transmit from one generation to the
next the habits of mind and heart necessary for good citizenship to thrive.
Almost 100 years ago, John Dewey said,
“What the best and wisest parent wants for
his child, that must the community want for
all its children.” Admittedly, many parents do
teach character in their homes. In fact, they
are the first character educators. But the fact
remains that character development is also a
Page 18
responsibility of educators who are responsible for nurturing all aspects of learning.
When we place the student at the centre of all
we do, and when home and school are seen as
complementary spheres of influence, we create the web of support that is necessary for
student success and the continuous improvement of our schools.
Not a New Curriculum, but a Way
of Life
We all want our schools to foster positive attributes; to be the embodiment of caring and
civility. We want them to be models of effective human relationships where students
continue to learn what it means to be humane, empathetic and respectful. A systematic character development program nurtures
the universal attributes that transcend racial,
religious, socio-economic, cultural and other
lines of division in our communities. It is a
whole-school effort to create a community
that promotes the highest ideals of student
deportment and citizenship. These skills and
expectations must be nurtured in an explicit,
focused, systematic and intentional manner.
Character education is not a new curriculum;
it is a way of life. It is the way we treat others
and hold ourselves accountable for ensuring
that our actions are compatible with our stated values and beliefs. In implementing the
strategies that embed the character attributes
into the fabric of the school, all members
of the school community seize the “teach-
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Manitoba ASCD
able moments” to reinforce the attributes
which are determined in co-operation with
a wide cross-section of community members. Teachers use every opportunity to integrate these attributes into their curriculum
and make connections where appropriate. The
attributes permeate all policies, programs, and
interactions within the school.
viduals and our society as a whole. Character
education is about taking care of the common
good and the universal values that we can all
agree upon - those that bind us together as one
human family - those values that take us to a
new level of consciousness about who we are,
what we believe in, how we wish to live our
lives and how we choose to relate to others.
“We all want our schools to foster positive attributes; to be the
embodiment of caring and civility. We want them to be models
of effective human relationships
where students continue to learn
what it means to be humane,
empathetic and respectful.
A few years ago, the Financial Post carried
a series of articles on public views of education. Not surprisingly, parents who saw
character development as a primary purpose
of schooling rated character education very
highly. Studies by Ken Leithwood and others at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education also found that, by and large, parents
want schools to focus on character education
and citizenship development.
As stated consistently by leaders in the field
of character education, the development of
good character is not inherited, it is inculcated - it is not caught, it is taught (see, for example, the work of Marvin Berkowitz, Tom
Lickona and P. Fitch Vincent). Students must
see what good character looks like and have
an opportunity to put it into practice. “Children,” the saying goes, “cannot heed a message they have not heard.” Marvin Berkowitz often says, “A child is the only substance
from which a responsible adult can be made.”
It is easy to bemoan the turbulence of our
times, to mimic the critics who assert that
our young people have no moral voice guiding their actions. I do not adopt this approach
because it is reactive. Our motivation as
educators must be based on our fundamental beliefs about what constitutes excellence in education and what we believe will
contribute to the future well-being of indiPage 19
A World-wide Concern
The Character Education Partnership (CP)
has collected data on the status of character
education across the globe. In England, for
example, there is a recent renewal of commitment to citizenship development. Other
countries emphasize character education,
describing it as social and emotional learning (United Kingdom), or values, ethics and
morals (New South Wales), virtue development and life skills (Lesotho), civic and ethics education (Mexico), value development
(Estonia), moral development (Hungary).
personal and social development (Malta). to
name a few. Countries like Australia indicate,
from research conducted in its jurisdiction,
that when schools engage in explicit teaching
of values students are more engaged in learning resulting in improved outcomes.
What we do know is that, increasingly, governments are recognizing that a holistic ap-
2011
proach to education includes some form of
character development. A common theme
that runs throughout these programs is respect for self and others.
In the nineties, I spearheaded initiatives to
implement character education in two Ontario district school boards first in York Region
(outside Toronto) and later in Kawartha Pine
Ridge (in Peterborough). Then in 2008, I
helped the Ontario government launch
a character development initiative
province-wide. Whereas we
did not see character development as a panacea,
we believed in its possibility to create positive
school cultures. We also
recognized that it would take
all the institutions in our community, working together, for
character education to be successful. The saying, “It takes a village to
raise a child,” though perhaps over- used,
is applicable in this context.
Manitoba ASCD
on our youth during these very challenging
times we were helping to create the future we
all wished to have; we emphasized that we
would be nurturing characteristics identified
by the business community as integral to a
work ethic and prerequisites for success in
the workplace.
At the end of the three
sessions, the participants
decided upon ten attributes that they wanted us to
develop in our schools. These
were: Respect, Responsibility, Honesty,
Integrity, Empathy, Fairness, Initiative,
Perseverance, Courage and Optimism.
Of great interest is the fact that when
we conducted a similar exercise in
the Kawartha Pine Ridge District
School Board, members of that
community chose the same ten attributes. The editorial in the local papers suggested that we can find “common ground as
Canadians on the values that we espouse.”
Character Education in Schools
Communities Of Character
In Ontario, we first implemented character
education district-wide in the York Region
District School Board. We convened three
education forums for a wide cross-section
of the community, involving some 250 parents, community leaders and educators in
reflecting on the culture that they wished to
foster in York Region schools. The forums
created a space for a conversation about the
role of schools in preparing citizens for the
future and enabled us to forge consensus on
the attributes we wanted our students to embody as members of their schools and community, and as future citizens. We convinced
our community participants that by focusing
It is my view that elected officials play a pivotal role in the development of a civil society.
And so when we established our character
education program in York Region, I approached the Mayor of Markham and asked
him to work with the school district to engage our community in an ongoing, systematic and focused character education effort.
We engaged a wide cross-section of the community, including parents and educators as
well as members of our business and faith
communities, government officials, the police, labour and social representatives - all
individuals who were interested in making
our community safe, inclusive and inviting.
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Through our collective efforts, York Region
became the first jurisdiction in Canada to develop a character initiative to serve as an example of how community development could
be led by the education sector.
York Region defines their “Character
Community” as a community
committed to keeping and enhancing its community as
a place where families are
strong, homes and streets
are safe, education is effective, businesses are productive and neighbours care
about one another.
In diverse societies especially, the need to find common
ground on the values that we share
as human beings becomes a necessity.
It is also important for our children to know
what we stand for as a community. After all,
they are receiving many messages through
movies, television and other media. How are
we helping them to know that respect for self
and others is a fundamental value that will
help them live with others in a community?
How are we teaching them that respect for
property and the environment will assist our
efforts to sustain our resources? As stated
before, these important aspects of education
must be taught. They cannot be left to chance.
Character In The Workplace
To the best of my knowledge, the Kawartha
Pine Ridge District School Board was the
first school district in Canada to establish
a “Character in the Workplace” initiative
in a systematic and intentional manner. We
brought school district employees together
and asked them to consider participating in
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Manitoba ASCD
a program similar to those we were developing in the district’s schools and the wider
community. Led by a board secretary and a
member of the business department, the initiative introduced staff members to the common purpose of character development and
assisted them in modeling and demonstrating the highest standards
of character in dealing with
their colleagues and with
the public. The board also
began to celebrate a character attribute each month
and encouraged everyone
working for the board to
put these tenets into daily
practice and to embody
them in interpersonal relationships. Employees of the
board assumed leadership for this
initiative.
We believed that this initiative would make
a difference in the culture of the organization and in the service quality we provided
to students, parents and the community. The
district’s next step was to take this initiative
to the business community.
Citizenship Development
In Canada, as in other nations around the
world, we are part of a governing process that
attempts to serve the best interests of society.
The role we are expected to play in return
is manifested through the institution of citizenship. Citizenship is a right as well as a
very important responsibility. With citizenship come rights such as freedom of expression, religion and lifestyle. However, these
rights come at a cost; that is the responsibility
we all share to support the democratic process within our nation, cities and communi-
2011
ties. These responsibilities are manifested in
many ways. As citizens, we must work hard
to maintain and improve the economic, political and social aspects of our society. Citizenship is a right, but it is more importantly a
privilege; we cannot take it for granted.
In Ontario, through mandatory courses in
civics and history as well as optional courses
in law and world issues, our public education system has introduced students to the
ideals of a democratic society and fostered
pro-social concepts of citizenship among our
younger generation. We also require mandatory community service for students prior to
graduation to encourage a sense of community involvement and responsibility.
It is important that, in a world dominated by
popular culture in which very confusing messages reach our young people every day, we
reinforce the need for an active and involved
citizenry. We need to teach these important
elements of democracy in a manner that engages young minds and redirects their enthusiasm. Young people are full of passion and
interest, and are willing to take on responsibilities that we, as adults, do not always provide for them. Let us realize their immense
potential, and work with them to sustain and
create a world where citizenship and all its
privileges, rights and responsibilities are extended to all.
The excerpts that follow are some of the answers that Grade 10 Civics students in Peterborough Ontario provided when asked what
citizenship meant to them:
“The definition of citizenship is to have full
rights in a country. Citizenship in Canada
means a lot more. We are given the opportunity to learn and create a better world.
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We are given freedom of lifestyle, speech
and religion. To me, citizenship means a
person who has good qualities and uses
these qualities to bring good to the world.”
“To me, being a citizen does not mean always agreeing with the current powers,
but working with others (or if need be
standing alone), to fight peacefully for the
things you believe in.”
“A good citizen respects the beliefs and religions of others and is involved in his or
her community and country. They pay their
taxes, vote, volunteer to help improve the
community and give to others, and express
their views or ideas in a peaceful manner.”
“Citizenship is fighting for human rights.
Being part of the global community is also
part of citizenship. Citizenship is like being a member of a gigantic club. It is getting involved in the politics of your country by voting and protesting.”
Education At Its Best
It is incumbent upon educational leaders to
help to create community where we educate hearts and minds and shape future generations able to maintain and strengthen our
democratic society. In this vein, I have been
challenged over the years by the words of Peter Drucker who in an essay in Leading Beyond the Walls said:
“Society in all developed countries has become pluralist and is becoming more pluralist day by day ... But all early pluralist
societies destroyed themselves because no
one took care of the common good ... If
our modern pluralist society is to escape
the same fate, the leaders of all institutions
2011
will have to learn to be leaders beyond
the walls. They will have to learn that it
is not enough for them to lead their own
institutions;though that is the first requirement. They will also have to learn to become leaders in the community. In fact,
they will have to learn to create community.”
Implementing character development has
helped us to create community in Ontario
schools and school districts. The inclusive
nature of the initiative brought us all together
After one of the consultation sessions, one
parent said
“You have put the ‘public’ back into
‘public education’.” Researcher Marvin
Berkowitz points out that whereas character education is not a panacea, it has the
potential to address many of the issues that
we are grappling with in schools today
from school climate to student behaviour
to academic motivation.
The business community also depends on the
school system to help develop the graduates
who will ultimately work in their companies
and institutions. Business leaders often say
that they can develop the technical skills but
they want us to develop qualities such as initiative, perseverance and honesty. Sandy McDonnell, a business person who has devoted
Manitoba ASCD
his life to character education in St. Louis
schools, once said:
“We in the business world don’t want
young people coming into our employment and into our communities who are
brilliant, but dishonest; who have great
intellectual knowledge, but don’t really
care about others; who have highly creative minds, but are irresponsible. All of
us in business and the entire adult community need to do our part in helping build
young people of high character. There isn’t
a more critical issue in education today.”
I encourage my educational colleagues
across the globe to ensure that schools teach
qualities such as empathy and respect; to take
seriously the intent of holistic education to
educate hearts as well as minds; to ensure
that education lives up to its loftier mission
and its core values of preparing students to
think critically, feel deeply and act wisely
and ethically. I am convinced that we can
help to build vibrant communities and caring
individuals by emphasizing the qualities that
make us truly human.
nn
This article has been reprinted with the
author’s permission.
Dr. Avis Glaze is one of Canada’s outstanding educators and a recognized international leader in education. From classroom teacher, to superintendent and director of education, this award-winning educator
has experience at all levels of the school system. She was one of only five Commissioners on Ontario’s Royal Commission on Learning. As Ontario’s first Chief Student Achievement Officer and founding CEO of the
Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, she played a pivotal role in improving student achievement in Ontario
schools. Dr. Glaze has served as Ontario’s Education Commissioner and Senior Adviser to the Minister of
Education, been a Professor in Residence in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, and currently, is President of Edu-quest International Inc.
Page 23
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Manitoba ASCD
The Big Picture: Education
is Everyone’s Business
by Dennis Littky
Reviewed by Jerome Cranston, Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba
It’s relatively easy to understand why Dennis Littky’s
book, with its compelling cover
art, is still garnering attention
seven years after its initial publication. In The BIG picture:
Education is Everyone’s Business, Littky and his co-author
Samantha Grabelle provide a
framework devised to save “atrisk” children from a school
system that continuously fails
them. Littky proposes that we
are trying to educate children
in dysfunctional schools, using dysfunctional approaches
- dysfunctional even though we
continue to believe that they are
somehow mysteriously working. And, it is hard to deny that
Littky’s book poignantly challenges some of the traditional
philosophies and practices entrenched in North American
schooling that seem to be more
Page 24
about maintaining a “status
quo” for the adults invested in
the enterprise rather than attempting to improve children’s
opportunities to succeed by
radically changing how schooling is done. However, Littky
and Grabelle’s prescription to
cure what ails schools is also
worthy of a critical review.
After about thirty years of work
in public schools, it appears
that Littky realized that the real
goal of schools ought to be to
lead children to love learning
rather than generate a poorly
trained workforce. And, Littky
concluded that in order to meet
this goal it would necessitate
a radically different approach
to schooling, and the kind of
school.
In Littky’s vision of school-
2011
ing, parents are closely involved
with school’s staff and the work
of educating children. Students
and teachers work together in
small groups focusing on projects
that nurture the
interests and the
skills of students.
School bells do
not ring to interrupt the process
of learning. Students instinctively
open themselves
to learning, developing confidence
and the necessary
skills of literacy
and numeracy in
the process of doing projects that genuinely interest
them, and thus learning is enjoyable. And, in order to accomplish
this, schools must be much smaller than many of them are. Littky
and Grabelle set about to prove
how much more effective small
schools are at every level of educating children. And, it is hard to
find fault with Littky’s passionate
plea to save those who have continuously been failed by a one-size
fits all approach to education.
However, from a critical perspec-
Page 25
Manitoba ASCD
tive readers should note that before any content is provided - there
appears a picture of a lovely girl
accompanied by her testimonial
to the positive effect on her development under
the guidance
of the author
and “the Met”
school. And,
this sets the
pattern for the
book: personal
narrative and
anecdote are
presented for
the
author’s
personal journey to grasping the sublime
truths that underlie the success of
his school in Providence, Rhode
Island: the Metropolitan Regional
Career and Technical Center, ‘the
Met’ school.
There are generally two tones to
the book: affectionate and contemptuous. In some ways, the
book might be described as eerily
reminiscent of earnest missionaries who fervently hope you will
be saved from your ignorance and
self-destruction by accepting “The
Truth” they have already found
2011
and offer to share with you.
To be just this book is written for
a very broad readership, from the
parents of high school students
and the students themselves “who
want to take control over their
learning and want school to be interesting, safe, respectful, and fun”
to educators “who want to change
the way schools are run.” This is
not a book that provides anything
that can be placed in the administrative toolkit to troubleshoot and
improve existing schools - even
if such a thing was possible - but
rather it provides a vision for completely restructuring schools to rid
them of their systemic toxins, as
Littky did at ‘the Met’.
Littky is clear that in order to make
his vision real, we need to design
new schools ‘from scratch,’ a luxury unknown to most people. And,
from scratch does not only mean
building the school with such
items as innovative timetabling,
relevant course offerings and real
world curricular connections, but
it also necessitates having the
ability to hire a truly gifted staff
who according to Littky’s criteria
simply love and are committed to
children, and are themselves life-
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Manitoba ASCD
long learners (p.14). Admittedly,
Littky and Grabelle are more prescriptive about who not to hire for
“the Met;” the “12 bad guys” (p.
36) who personify the enemies of
change, and are presumably bad
for children.
Throughout the book, Littky reminisces about the early days of
implementing his vision and it is
without a doubt that he was a visionary. But, it is also possible that
he was bit of a benevolent master,
supporting but relentlessly guiding “the Met” staff and students to
see and understand his vision, and
then make it their own. One is left
wondering if the success of “the
Met” school could be duplicated
without the apparent charisma of a
similarly visionary leader.
More than once, Littky reveals a
level of cynicism regarding the potential of adults who are less than
ideal in his eyes and cannot see
what is plainly in front of them.
And, while Littky contends that
schools are flawed, at least in part
because they emphasize competition, there are ample references
that Littky provides, that suggest
his own competitive drive fueled
the change process of “the Met”
2011
schools. Littky writes: “After more
than 35 years in education, I continue to be angry and amazed at
what goes on in our public school
system… I am angry and amazed
that more people don’t see what I
see” (p. 20).
While it is true that a visionary is
often fueled by passion, it is somewhat disappointing that Littky like so many visionaries - does not
offer compassionate insight into
the people who are unable or unwilling to see things the same way
as he does. It becomes apparent
early in the book that Littky has
encountered the “real world” and
his version of it is the one we all
ought to accept.
Manitoba ASCD
eralizable ideas that might work
in all public schools. However, in
summary - even with the inherent contradictions contained in the
book - given the national recognition awarded to “the Met” school
(operated out of Garden City Collegiate by Seven Oaks School Division) by the Canadian Education Association for innovation
in teaching and learning, this is a
book worth reading if for no other
reason than to gain some insight
into the visionary mind and passionate person who created “the
Met” school movement, and to
provide one understanding of how
we might offer schooling differently.
The BIG Picture is an interesting
personal narrative with an emphasis on Littky’s vision, energy and
commitment rather than any gen-
nn
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Page 27
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Manitoba ASCD
Boys in Crisis?
Joe Thiessen, Principal, Mitchell Elementary School, Hanover School Division
Jimmy is a third grader who is becoming
more aware of his educational struggles as he
falls further and further behind in academics.
He knows he is smart, but the text on the page
just doesn’t seem to make sense to him. As a
result, he begins to turn into the class clown
to alleviate some of the anxiety that he feels
during the school day.
Over the last 2 years, 87% of recorded
misbehaviors at Mitchell Elementary School belong to boys. In addition, our school data reveals that
there are a higher percentage of
boys in special literacy programs
and individual behaviour plans than
girls. Are we really missing something when it comes to educating
our boys? Are boys really in crisis?
The topic of boys in school continued to arise
during an educational conference I attended.
After touring numerous exhibits at the conference, a book was highly recommended to
me entitled, Hear Our Cry, Boys in Crisis by
Paul D. Slocumb. This book has an accompanying video which is divided into 4 parts.
After viewing part one with my teaching
staff, there was significant support to continue the video/discussion series. Subsequently,
the entire staff has been engaged in watching this video designed to help us understand
why boys act the way they do in school.
“The most crucial time for most boys in
the learning process is Kindergarten, first
grade, and second grade. When boys
struggle with reading and writing, in those
Page 28
early years, they often form negative attitudes about reading and writing, which
in turn sets the stage for negative attitudes
about learning throughout their educational journeys.” (Slocumb, Boys in Crisis, p.
17)
The link between learning ability and
misbehaviour is one that we need to continue to examine with boys in mind. This
includes looking at practical suggestions for creating more
boy-friendly classrooms
as well as special literacy
based programming. We
are very aware of the need
for differentiated instruction
for individual academic differences, but it is also apparent that gender needs to be considered when
planning instruction if we are to meet the
needs of boys in our schools.
Jimmy was fortunate enough to be a part of
a literacy program that targeted his learning
disability. With this extra help, his reading
abilities have improved so much that he has
caught up to many of his classmates. Additionally, his teacher reports a significant increase in confidence and attentiveness. He
now loves to read. In guided reading groups,
Jimmy is not only using effective strategies,
but is able to help his peers. The class clown
has turned into a positive leader and only
time will tell if his crisis has been successfully circumvented.
nn
2011
Manitoba ASCD
Slices of Life: Managing
Dilemmas in Middle
Grades Teaching
by David Mandzuk and Shelley Hasinoff, An Overview
Teaching is a “messy” business. Whatever you think when
you begin teaching,
you are never fully
prepared for the many
times when you are
faced with real dilemmas that have no right
or wrong answers.
Sometimes, the best
you can hope for is
to be able to manage
a situation with your
integrity intact. This
book is about those
times.
Managing a dilemma begins
with being able to distinguish
between problematic situations
that are resolvable and dilemmas which may have no satisfactory solution. Once we rec-
Page 29
ognize a dilemma as a dilemma,
we can begin to consider possible ways of managing it in light
of what we know
about
teaching
and learning in
the middle grades.
One helpful strategy for managing
dilemmas is to uncover and understand the underlying
tensions that give
rise to them. Many
of the most common
dilemmas arise from tensions
underlying the dimensions of
diversity, collegiality, identity,
community, and authority.
In Part One, a chapter is devoted to each of these dimensions
and explores their underlying
2011
tensions through theory, an illustrative case study, and three questions:
DIVERSITY: Striving for Excellence and Equity
COLLEGIALITY: Balancing
Autonomy and Conformity
IDENTITY: Making the Transition from Student to Teacher
COMMUNITY: Understanding
Social Capital
AUTHORITY: Finding the Balance to Engage Learners
In Part Two, the five dimensions
are presented as being interconnected and interrelated. In this part
of the book the authors describe
and model a four step analytical
Manitoba ASCD
process for a sample case and then
provide nine more cases with multidimensional dilemmas for readers to analyze on their own. Three
questions follow each case.
Four Step Process
1. Describe the dilemma(s) and
specify who “owns” it.
2. Determine which dimensions
and underlying tensions apply.
3. Identify alternatives for managing the dilemma(s) and consider what criteria you will use
to evaluate the alternatives.
4. Decide which alternative is
best and explain why.
Books are available from the National Middle School Association
Store at: www.nmsa.org
nn
ASCD EXPRESS is a free e-mail delivered every two weeks that is filled with
articles, tips, and an online video focusing on topics such as classroom management, differentiated instruction, formative assessment, and instructional leadership that are essential to successful education practice. Sign up at www.ascd.org.
Page 30
2011
Manitoba ASCD
The Shaftesbury High Altitude
Robotics Project
Robert Striemer, Teacher, Shaftsbury High School, Pembina Trails School Division
In June of 2009, Mike Friesen, the teacher65,000 and 350,000 feet. This program
librarian at Shaftesbury High School diswas part of a larger initiative called Wincovered that a group of students in Portugal
Cube. The WinCube BSats employed the
had taken photos of space from a weather
APRS, and so we wanted to learn from the
balloon. We decided that a balloon project
experiences of those who’d gone before us.
could be a challenging engineering adventure for our students. It would be a way to
SHARP’s first priority would be fundraisencourage students to go into fields related to
ing. Could we generate the funds needed
science and engineerfor radios and GPS
ing by giving them a
receivers, a camera,
real-life challenge on
parachute,
balloon
a large scale. We met
and helium? We split
with two other incredthe large group into
ibly talented science
smaller teams. One
teachers named Adriteam wrote grant proan Deakin and April
posals. Another team
McKnight, and had our
studied
electronics
first exploratory meetand learned soldering.
ing to see how many
Another group studied
students would be inradio. In the spring of
SHARP Crew = A picture of the SHARP
terested in the project.
2010 six students and
team, taken the day before launch
The response was overI took an amateur rawhelming: 25 students showed up and wantdio course sponsored by WinCube and run
ed to participate. The Shaftesbury High Altiby Jeff Cieszecki, a teacher at Maples Coltude Robotics Project, or SHARP, was born.
legiate. Gradually, grant money started
coming in, and we started purchasing equipThere were two common methods used to
ment. SHARP was beginning to take form.
track Balloon Satellites, or “BSats”. One
method involved a smart phone. The other,
At noon hour SHARP meetings, students demore popular method involved amateur rasigned, built, and tested a resilient payload
dio and the Automatic Packet Reporting
box by throwing it off the gymnasium roof.
System (APRS). We discovered a program
To the students’ delight, it bounced off the asin Manitoba where teachers and students,
phalt parking lot like a rubber ball. The glued
with the assistance of professionals, had
joints were then tested in a cooler of dry ice,
already sent payloads to near space, the rein an attempt to simulate the extreme tempergion of the Earth’s atmosphere between
atures of near space. As the end of the school
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2011
year approached, we had the basics of a payload including a small digital camera and
two 1200 gram weather balloons. Students
even designed a SHARP logo and printed Tshirts. Finally, Alan Thoren, a key friend of
SHARP, made a very generous denotation
of radios, T-line, antennas, rotator and computer for a balloon and
satellite tracking station which was set up
in a portable classroom
and became our base.
Manitoba ASCD
raphy in the Winnipeg area. With luck, the
SHARP payload might even land near Winnipeg. Shaftesbury’s principal, Iain Riffel,
called in a favour from his brother-in-law in
Elkhorn and was able to get us rooms at the
wonderful Elkhorn Resort and Spa for the
night of October 21.
All looked promising but as our “to do
list” got shorter, our
anxiety about weather increased. Alan’s
early prediction of
the flight path gave a
significant probability
of the payload landing in Lake Manitoba.
We wanted a flight before the end of October.
That deadline served
to increase our anxiCouncillor John Orlikow (a generous conety but also our effort.
On Thursday, October
tributor to the SHARP project) discusses
We were still short a
21, twenty students
SHARP with Rob Striemer while students
few critical systems.
and five teachers
work on the payload.
We had no cut-down or
loaded up everything
Flight Termination Unit (FTU), and we had
we might need into five vehicles. Then we
no parachute. With only a few weeks until
drove to Erickson, roughly 250 km northlaunch, we received help from Craig Martin
west of Winnipeg. At about 1 pm we arrived
and Bruce Feaver, members of the local BSat
at the airfield and set-up on the apron in front
and ham radio communities. Craig was givof the flying club. We spread our tarp and did
en the FTU circuit diagram and ordered the
a dry run of the launch scheduled for 10am
electronic components. He quickly assemnext morning. The students filled a garbage
bled the FTU circuit. Bruce worked through
bag with helium. One student connected the
parachute design calculations with the stugas line and controlled the flow of gas. Andents. Based on coefficient of drag, payother carefully held the balloon on the end of
load weight and descent rate, a design was
the nozzle. When the bag was full of gas anselected: Shaftesbury colours of red, white
other student zip-tied the bag closed. Another
and blue. Students cold tested their payload
student stepped in with a blunt nosed wire
electronics in the dry ice cooler. I ordered up
cutter and trimmed off the ends of the zip
a cylinder of helium and Jeff Cieszecki lent
ties. Then another student wrapped duct tape
us the WinCube balloon-filing apparatus.
around the pointed ends to prevent a puncture. Everyone had a task, including starting
Feaver had earlier suggested we launch from
the electronics, starting the cut-down timer,
the airstrip at Erickson near Riding Mounattaching parachute lines and sealing the
tain National Park. This seemed like a good
foam board capsule with hockey sock tape.
launch location given the challenging geogAfter the practice, we loaded up again and we
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2011
drove north to Elkhorn. We checked into the
resort and immediately set up a workshop in
the boys’ chalet. Out came the tools, soldering station, wire, multimeter, kite string and
a balance. That afternoon we had to make a
difficult decision and fix some problems. The
payload was overweight. We had a camera
issue and we still needed to complete the
construction of the FTU and install it. The
wind direction was still cause for worry.
The first problem to be settled was the payload weight. Caution required redundancy.
With some trepidation the students decided
to remove one beacon. The heaviest radio
and GPS were stripped from the payload
box. When the SHARP team had completed wiring the FTU, we broke for dinner.
Manitoba ASCD
of equipment and the product of months of
work attached to a balloon that was now at
the mercy of the winds. We got into our cars
and headed south-east making for Portage.
The chase was on.
The balloon was getting ahead of us. At times
it hit speeds of over 160 km/h. We watched
the GPS in the car intently as FTU cut-off
point approached. Five minutes after the cutoff was to take place, it was clear the balloon
was still ascending. The flight termination
unit had failed. A few minutes later; however, the payload was on its way down. It
had reached a burst altitude of 107,348 feet.
The final position report from the balloon
at 12:40 pm put the payload at an elevation
of 234 metres. SHARP-1 had landed. After
The predicted trajectory based on wind
a 2 hour and 40 minute flight, the payload
speeds, on the evening
had traveled a disof October 21, showed a
tance of about 190
landing zone just southkm and landed less
east of Portage la Praithan 20 km from our
rie. This was very good
school in a freshly
news. After dinner, the
ploughed field near
students mounted and
Springstein. As each
connected the Flight
car arrived, students
Termination Unit. After
and teachers piled
some final radio tests, we
out and sprinted to
packed the cars, went to
the capsule. When
bed, and tried to sleep.
all were assembled
SHARP in Flight = Balloon, parachute and
around the payload,
payload, seconds after liftoff.
The weather on the
the students opened
morning of October 22 was ideal. The airthe box and to our great relief and joy; the
field’s wind sock indicated a light north-east
camera was still recording! It had been a near
breeze. Preparations went without a hitch.
perfect flight. The precious memory card was
As the balloon was filling we tested the camremoved and secured. The payload, parachute
era and radios. The payload box was sealed
and remnants of the balloon were tossed into
at 9:50. A countdown to launch started, and
the back of a van. The students jumped back
at exactly 10 am the balloon was released. It
into the vehicles and we returned to the school
ascended rapidly and in two minutes it was
to watch the stunning footage of our flight.
out of sight. We had hundreds of dollars
Page 33
2011
The greatest result from this project has been
the undying enthusiasm in our students. They
are excited from the experience and everything that they have learned, and they want to
do it again. SHARP-2 is expected to fly later
this year, and it will be a much more ambitious project. Along with a camera, radio and
GPS beacon, we’ll be including a temperature
sensor and a biology experiment called RAT,
or the Radiation Attenuation Test. RAT will
consist of two vials of e. coli bacteria, one
enclosed in lead shielding, and one not. The
goal of RAT will be to determine the effects
of radiation on bacteria, and students will be
learning how to accurately test their findings
with the help of Shaftesbury’s science teachers. Staff and students alike are excited to
launch again. For more information about
SHARP, including pictures and video, please
visit http://shsballoonproject.pbworks.com.
nn
When not reaching for the stars, Robert
Striemer can be found teaching physics at
Shaftesbury High School, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His love for science and technology
has been quite contagious among Manitoba
students for the past 27 years.
Manitoba ASCD
Katrina: I came to Shaftesbury a year ago.
My sister told me about SHARP, that it was
a science-related extra-curricular project. I
am more inclined in science and math since
I am taking engineering next year. That’s
why I joined SHARP.
Q: Were the students involved in the initial
planning of the project?
Cedric: No, the students were volunteers.
We came here for the same interests. We
gathered and made the teams ourselves and
got involved in the plans.
Katrina: Last year’s SHARP group started
the project. They built the box and we continued their project this year.
Q: What appealed to you most about this
project?
Katrina: Going into space.
Cedric: It was an extraordinary experience.
It is a great experience to have, especially in
high school.
Q: Can you tell me about your involvement
in the project? Was it challenging?
Katrina Soriano and her brother, Cedric Soriano, both grade 12 students at Shaftesbury
High School, were heavily involved in the
SHARP project plans this year.
Katrina: Our first job on the box was to do
the swivels for the box; its attachment to
the parachute. The box was already finished
from last year. Our advisors helped us with
the planning; our advisors are always there.
There came a point where we had to remove some of the stuff we were planning to
include in the payload and they helped us
decide.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about why you became involved in the project?
Q: What do you take in class that helps you
with the project?
Brenda Lanoway, editor of the journal, had
the pleasure of talking with two student members of the 2010-2011 SHARP team about
their experience with SHARP.
Page 34
2011
Cedric: There was a weight limit for the
payload box and we were trying to not go
past that limit so we reduced the items we
didn’t need.
Katrina: There is some physics involved
in it, too, like the gas laws and the thermal
dynamics. We applied that in the rising of
the balloon.
Q: What have you learned from the project?
Katrina: I was able to learn how to use
other computer programs. Like Sketch
Shop. We are using that in our next SHARP
launch. [The project] gave us information
that not everything taught in class will always happen, always occur. …cause physics in fourth year high school is not what is
actually always happening.
Cedric: Also, there was a HAM radio
course for some of the students. … there
were students who took the course to make
communications during the chase when the
balloon was launched.
Q: Did either one of you get a chance to
take the training?
Katrina: I am taking the training right now.
I have to study on my own with the help
of my physics teacher. I am taking the test
probably this June. After I take the test, and
if I pass, I can get a license.
Q: I wondered how this experience compares to other school projects in which you
have been involved.
Katrina: We are members of the Envirothon. The difference is this applies more to
practical stuff. We do it hands on. In EnviPage 35
Manitoba ASCD
rothon we learned facts and knowledge and
we also did trials and tests for Envirothon.
Cedric: With SHARP we are doing things
we have never done before. We are learning
new stuff from the experience of it.
Katrina: In SHARP there is no competition
so it is [about] self-achievement.
Q: Can your studies in other classes be useful in a project like SHARP?
Katrina: Mostly physics, calculus, and parts
of chemistry, I think, and electronics. We
used art for designing the box and you had
to think about the effects on the box. Computer science and parts of science and math,
too, for the programming and stuff.
Cedric: For the second project we are
including a biology project. A biology experiment to mutate a bacteria when it gets
radiated.
Katrina: For the next SHARP we are planning to put all the sciences together.
Q: What have you enjoyed the most about
your involvement in this project?
Katrina: For me it was the chase part.
Chasing the balloon.
Cedric: Tracking it. The moment we found
the balloon on the ground; It was a great
experience.
Katrina: We were put under pressure so it
was a great experience, also, to train us to
cope with that stuff.
nn
2011
Manitoba ASCD
Start Where They Are
by Karen Hume
Reviewed by Brad Burns, Principal, Van Walleghem School, Pembina
Trails School Division
Karen Hume’s book, Start
Where They Are, addresses the
call of so many Middle Years
teachers: Make it relevant to
Middle Years!
The impressive thing about this
book on differentiated instruction is that the book itself is differentiated. Many of the chapters begin with a self-evaluation
that, based on the result, sends
the reader off to different parts
of the chapter on a quest to
understand different points of
view. For example, when asked
which is more like you: (A) My
students look to me to solve
classroom problems such as excessive noise or group disputes
or (B) My students and I solve
classroom problems together,
Hume says B is “more representative of the key principles
of a differentiated classroom for
Page 36
young adolescents.” Whether
you agree or disagree, she recommends you read Chapter 5 on
Learning Community. This is a
clever set-up to the chapter and
hooks you into the content.
The content is packaged for the
maximum number of practical ideas per page. Hume also
includes loads of thought-provoking quotes and cartoons that
will keep the reader engaged on
many levels.
In one chapter, Hume makes the
distinction between diagnostics
and pre-assessments. Diagnostics focus on finding out what
students do not know and cannot
do. Diagnostics usually occur
once a year. While pre-assessments focus on what students
know and can do already. Preassessments, Hume argues, need
2011
to occur before every unit of study.
Hume provides teachers with 6 detailed strategies to pre-assess their
students: anticipation guides, cloze
procedures, student interviews, selfreport inventories, want-to-know to
want-to-learn, and listen and observe.
Another chapter focuses on powerful instructional strategies. Do you
have your students focus on the critical attributes of a concept; encourage
students to draw, role-play, or work
in non-linguistic form; have students
summarize; require students to generate a hypothesis and explain their
Manitoba ASCD
thinking? Hume takes you through
these high-yield instructional strategies providing the “how-to” at every
step.
From understanding the nature of
the adolescent learner, your own personal beliefs and philosophy, to the
step-by-step planning of a successful
DI unit, Hume provides teachers with
what they need. Clear and practical
strategies and plenty of examples
make this a must-read for any Middle
Years teacher.
nn
Join Now!
Go to: http://ascdedge.ascd.org
Get started by creating your own
free profile page. You’ll also be
able to network with colleagues,
share photos and videos, and
send updates to and receive them
from other ASCD EDge members.
Page 37
2011
Manitoba ASCD
Under the Chicka-Chicka BoomBoom Tree: Creating Independent
Student Writers in Grade One
Jacqueline B. Neufeld in collaboration with Jolene E. Boult,
Winnipeg School Division, Inner City Disctrict
Imagine a group of Grade One students brimming with energy and excitement. Their small
bodies wiggle as they settle on the classroom
carpet in the meeting area. While the students
settle under the classroom’s paper ChickaChicka Boom-Boom tree, their teacher waits
patiently. Students are eager to share their
ideas, experiences and struggles as young
learners. There is a sense that everyone is
a learner here, and that with learning comes
responsibility; an expectation to contribute
ideas and to think. Soon they will write, but
for now they know they must get ready for
writing by talking, thinking, and attending to
their teacher and guide, Jolene Boult.
Jolene: Boys and girls, today our task will
be to write independently. Independently
means working without help.
Jonny: But what if we get it wrong?
Dedra: You can erase it!
Jolene: Exactly!
Dedra: It’s okay to make mistakes!
Jolene: That’s right. That’s how we learn.
Now, what does it mean to be independent?
Jonny: It means doing it all by yourself!
Jolene: That’s right! Today your job is to
spend the first few minutes of writing time
writing all by yourself. This is how we become independent writers!
This issue of Reflections celebrates the learner as a whole child- a unique individual. If
Page 38
we believe each child to be an individual,
then our classroom must provide all children
with the skills required to attain independence, and the space necessary to practice
being independent. Assessment for Learning
(AFL) is a tool that helps us to honor the individuality of each child while empowering
each child to take ownership of his/her own
learning and development.
“If we believe each child to be an
individual, then our classroom
must provide all children with the
skills required to attain independence, and the space necessary
to practice being independent.”
Connected by division support and a common
belief in student independence, we began to
collaborate to implement AFL strategies in a
Grade One classroom. Because we both occupied different roles (Jolene as a classroom
teacher, and myself as a learning support
teacher) we were able to forge a dynamic
partnership. I worked alongside Jolene,
collaborating with her to plan for learning,
to co-teach lessons and to make time to engage in reflective conversations that guided
next steps. We also collaborated in sharing
knowledge around the development of early
2011
years’ writers. This collaboration led to the
co-creation of a writing continuum that provided students with clear, visual targets for
their writing. It also provided us with a
tool to talk to students about their learning.
In our work together using AFL, we
learned that all students have the capacity to be independent learners.
We saw students develop the tools,
skills, and motivation to
learn, and the ability to
utilize a variety of strategies. Many would argue
that Grade One students are
not able to be independent of their
teacher. After all, many of them are barely
six years old! However, through our work,
we discovered that many of our youngest students are capable and eager to work independently.
The Research: Teaching that Promotes Student Independence, Ownership, Engagement and Motivation
Formative assessment is a key concept among
educators who are committed to the improvement of student learning and independence.
Black and Wiliam (1998) reveal five simple
yet complex factors that help improve learning through assessment: effective feedback to
pupils; active involvement of students in their
own learning; adjustment of one’s teaching
(based on the results of assessments); a recognition of the influence assessment has on
the motivation and self esteem of students;
and the need for students to be able to assess
themselves and understand how to improve.
The following definition has been helpful
in creating a common understanding among
Page 39
Manitoba ASCD
staff and students in the Winnipeg School Division:
Assessment for Learning (AFL) is a research – driven initiative to help teachers develop practical strategies which
raise performance levels, build student
independence and increase students’
involvement in their own learning (Winnipeg School Division,
2004).
Inspired by the potential offered by these ideas, we
began to ask critical questions
about the creation of independent student learners.
Every Good Idea Begins With a
Question:
We had questions.
• What would AFL look like in an early
years classroom?
• How can 6-year-old children learn to be
independent thinkers and problem solvers?
• What was our role, as educators, in providing the scaffolding needed for young
learners to be independent?
• How could we help students to see themselves as writers, with strengths, challenges and a range of strategies that
would support them in their writing?
Definition of an Independent Learner:
What does it mean to be independent? Too often, educators define independence as simply
being able to get the work done without support. Others may define it as working quietly.
We sought out a more robust definition that
2011
better reflected our classroom experience. We
chose to adopt the following definition of a
learner:
Independent student learners are able to recognize what they know or what they can do
(strengths), can identify what they are unsure
of or have difficulty with (challenges) and
are able to identify their next steps or have
strategies to help them with their difficulties
(Clarke, Sutton and Owens, 2006, p. 26).
Manitoba ASCD
specific intent, our overall work together was
organized by the clearly posted, and oftenreferenced, general intent statement: We are
learning to be better writers so we can share
our thoughts and ideas with others.
We were confident that if students were given
opportunities to think of themselves in this
way, they would begin to see themselves
as lifelong learners who have the power to
tackle any learning situation in school and
beyond.
Lessons: Using a Frame to Support
Teaching and Learning
Our first step toward building student independence was the use of a planning frame to
support our thinking. The frame was a way
for us to apply the formative assessment insights from Black and Wiliam’s work into
each of our lessons. Each lesson was composed of three distinct parts: sharing learning
goals, allowing students to work, and reflecting on learning.
Beginning the Lesson: Getting
Started using Intent, Criteria
and Task.
At the heart of creating independent student
learners lies the critical concept of sharing
learning goals with students so they have an
idea of where they are headed. Knowing the
intent of lessons helps students to see what
they are supposed to learn during a lesson and
focus on learning it. While every lesson had a
Page 40
Students listen to a good story.
In addition to setting intents, the classroom
teacher took time to collaborate with students
to construct criteria for identifying a successful piece of writing. We considered the following questions:
• What is important in writing?
• Why do we write anyway?
• How will we know we have been successful after a writing session?
Collaborating with students not only increased student engagement during the lesson, it also served to increase student ownership and motivation to develop writing skills.
We realized that engaging students in
2011
Manitoba ASCD
constructed criteria posted on the wall helped
students understand to what they needed to
attend in order to be successful during any
writing session.
Allowing Students to Work and
Engaging in Learning Conversations.
In order for student independence to develop,
students need to be encouraged to solve problems in learning without immediate teacher
support. Students were given three minutes
after the introduction of a lesson to work independently. We set a timer that was visible
to students to help them deal with the emotional challenges of “getting stuck” in learning. We said, “Boys and girls, after three
minutes, we will be walking around to help
you, but for now, we want you to use the
strategies we talked about earlier on the carpet to help you with your writing. This is how
you learn to be an independent writer.”
Criteria is posted in the classroom.
this process would increase the likelihood of
students actually using the charts to support
them when asked to consider their progress
during lessons. Referring students to the coPage 41
Initially, we noticed that students would default to the only strategy they knew—asking
the teacher. This had quite an impact on a
caring and committed teacher of Grade One
students! We soon realized that creating independent student learners required risk
taking in teaching. The classroom teacher
had to deal with her anxiety which emerged
while watching students get stuck in writing.
With the support teacher’s help, Jolene soon
learned to resist the temptation to jump in and
“rescue” the learner struggling with writing.
Three minutes can feel like an eternity when
watching students on the edge of frustration. However, with time, and repeated opportunities to seek out alternative strategies,
students became proficient problem solvers
and began to access multiple strategies to
deal with learning challenges. Over time, students’ willingness to engage in independent
2011
problem-solving grew, to the point where we
could allow students to work independently
for up to ten minutes before stepping in.
“With learning comes a responsibility to think, to contribute and
perhaps above all, to take risks
in both teaching and learning.”
Manitoba ASCD
Visual Supports
Our lessons were enriched and supported by
a variety of visual cues that turned the classroom walls into instructional resources. In
addition to the continuum, students also cocreated strategy charts and writing criteria.
Without these cues the path to independence
would have been much more difficult for students to navigate.
In addition to nurturing student independence
this chunk of time also provided Jolene with
an opportunity to make formal assessments
and judgments about what she was seeing in
her students as they approached a learning
task. Rather than dashing around answering questions and solving problems, she now
had time to take a breath and make formative
observations. Jolene began to relax. Before
long, a positive balance between independence and support began to emerge.
Ending Lesson: Reflecting on
Learning.
Time to reflect, and guidance about how to
reflect were essential if we wanted students to
extend their experience with learning to write
into other learning challenges. The definition
of an independent student learner (Clarke,
Owens, and Sutton, 2006) that we previously quoted was useful in guiding student
reflections. This meant that students learned
how to talk about what was easy (strengths),
what was hard (challenges), and what strategies they used to be successful writers during
writing time. Students quickly became more
and more adept at talking about their learning
in this way. Here was clear evidence that they
were developing confidence in themselves as
learners who could tackle problems on their
own.
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Student writing is displayed in the
classroom.
Jolene’s journal notes below reveal the critical role of posting charts that anchor and support student learning before, during and after
learning:
2011
If it’s not up on the walls to aid the student
in their learning, then, why is it up? Also,
do not be intimidated by using words
when the students may not necessarily be
able to read. If you refer to strategies often enough, the students learn them and
use them successfully (a little picture cue
helps). You must refer to them constantly
to help kids be successful. It feels repetitive, but it is worth it!
Conclusion
Assessment for Learning is a tool that helps
us to honor the individuality of each child,
while empowering each to take ownership
of his/her own learning and development.
Utilizing the writing continuum has helped
students to think, to self assess, and to contribute ideas. We learned that the continuum,
combined with anchor charts, and the use of
a structured AFL lesson frame, provided consistency and clear targets for both the teacher
and the students, while allowing for uniqueness in ideas and composing. Through this
journey, we have confirmed that Grade One
students can develop the skills to be independent and successful writers. Everyone is
a learner in this classroom. With learning
comes a responsibility to think, to contribute
and perhaps above all, to take risks in both
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Manitoba ASCD
teaching and learning. After spending a year
working on building independent students,
Jolene reflects:
Challenge yourself to do things that you
are uncomfortable with. Give it a go, fail,
talk about it, change it, and try it again.
Above all, challenge your thoughts about
your students. Grade Ones independent?
Ha! Boy, was I wrong.
nn
References
Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the
black box: Raising standards through
classroom assessment. Kappan (October).
Clarke, P., Owens, T., & Sutton, R. (2006).
Creating Independent Student Learners
(N-3). Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA: Portage
and Main Press.
Winnipeg School Division Curriculum and
Assessment Support (Inner City District). (2004). Feedback For Learning.
Winnipeg, Manitoba CA: Winnipeg
School Division.
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Manitoba ASCD
The Whole Child as Whole Citizen: the
Importance of Inclusion of Immigrant
and Refugee Children’s Voices in
Citizenship Education
Stephanie Yamniuk, Student and Instructor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba
Introduction
In my work as an educator, I am concerned
for all students who feel marginalized by
society and in their school communities. It
makes sense, both intuitively and cognitively,
that society should want children – all children - to see themselves, and be seen, as citizens. However, for marginalized students,
and specifically refugee and
immigrant students - a group
who face specific challenges there seems to be a profound
need to consider the notion of
differentiated citizenship as a
working model for teaching
and learning citizenship education.
While there are many meanings to the word ‘citizen’, I propose that
educators seriously consider using the contemporary definition of citizenship offered
by R. Brian Howe, co-director of the Children’s Rights Centre at Cape Breton University (CBU). Using this model, Howe (2005)
argues that children can identify themselves
and be identified as citizens, based on the
values of rights and responsibilities offered
through an understanding of differentiated
citizenship. In this way, refugee and immigrant children can find ways to participate
Page 44
and belong while being fully citizens of their
communities. In a recent UNICEF Report,
Lansdown (2005) writes about “the evolving capacities of the child,” and when taken
alongside Howe’s model of differentiated citizenship, it can offer a powerful way to better
understand the whole child.
While Canada is a multiethnic society, we know
that not all cultures see
children or citizenship in
the same way. We need to
allow for alternative perspectives as we engage in
citizenship education, keeping in mind that one of our
goals is to give students the
opportunity to voice their
opinions in order to empower them to
a c t as responsible and concerned citizens,
may that be in the community or in the school
and classroom.
When schools engage in citizenship education and recognize each child as a citizen,
we can see the impact on school community,
and how this acceptance of the whole child
can empower children to take a more active
approach to participation in their families,
schools and communities. It is important that
educators can model various ways of partici-
2011
pating as a citizen, as well as take the time
needed to give students a chance to voice
their opinions about the school community in
which they live and work.
Children’s role in citizenship education; why we must give them membership into society as evolving citizens
Rights and responsibilities, participation, and
differentiated citizenship provide the four
pillars of a more robust view of citizenship
(Howe, 2005). These four beliefs about citizenship have been shown to have a meaningful impact on how children see themselves as
active citizens. Howe cites evidence that current citizenship education practices in 28 different countries are not meeting the goals of
empowering students with knowledge, skills
and motivation that promote democratic citizenship in children. There are four qualities
for democratic citizenship, which go beyond
a legal definition. In quite practical terms,
Howe names the following qualities as being
necessary for a citizen to be fully initiated
into modern society:
1.
2.
3.
4.
A sense of belonging
The exercise of responsibilities
Active participation
Differentiated citizenship
If the key purpose of citizenship is to promote “a sense of belonging” (Howe, 2005, p.
44), it will be important that citizenship education promote an attitude of inclusion. This
means including all the voices that comprise
our communities of family, schools and organized groups of community members. As
Howe (2005) points out, there are “different
configurations of rights and responsibilities
for different groups in society” (p. 44).
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Manitoba ASCD
Active participation is required for citizenship because there seems to be an accompanying sense of social responsibility when one
is involved in society (Howe, 2005). Only
when a person participates can she experience the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Howe demonstrates that although there
has been a long list of citizenship literature
on other marginalized groups, there has been
little research to explore the value of children
as citizens. The focus on the existing literature is on the citizen of the future; Howe disagrees on this limitation to children’s capability as citizen and argues that children are
citizens of the here and now. When was the
last time your students talked to you about
what they were learning for the future? They
need knowledge and critical thinking skills
today.
As odd as it may seem to some, there have
been educators who argued against giving
children the rights of citizenship. And, sometimes their reasons include the arguments
that children have limited economic independence or a low level of cognitive ability
(Howe, 2005). Howe counters these simplistic contentions by correlating the situations of
other groups of people who are not economically independent, but are currently considered to be citizens: “stay-at-home mothers
or fathers, or many university students, seniors, and adults with disabilities who are in
a financially dependent situation” (Howe, p.
45). His argument against using low levels of
cognitive ability as a reason to deny citizenship includes the fact that there is “no magic
moment when a child suddenly becomes an
adult” (p.45). The transition to adulthood
evolves over time. There is evidence that
shows that when a child is believed to act
responsibly, there is an increase in cognitive ability (Alderson, 1992, as discussed in
2011
Howe, p. 45).
If we believe that citizenship is about belonging, not cognitive ability, we should be able
to accept the child as citizen as we apply several qualities of citizenship to children. These
include:
1. Children qualify as differentiated citizens, due to the nature of their rights and
responsibilities as children.
2. Children have certain basic rights, in
light of the 1989 UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, such as protection
from abuse and neglect. They have the
right to receive basic health care and participate in decisions affecting the child.
3. Children have age-differentiated responsibilities, so that too qualifies children as
citizens.
4. Children participate in a political community - by way of participating in decisions that affect them, they qualify as
citizens. This participation depends upon
their maturity level, but they do have “the
right to be heard in an age-appropriate
fashion and the decision-making authorities have the obligation to listen. . .”
(Howe, 2005, p. 47 ).
I have experienced teaching at a school that
was run by an authoritative leader, and students did not have the right to be heard. The
result was that students did not believe in
their own agency, or power to act and make a
difference. It is often school leaders, be they
administration or teachers, that model the belief that children do have, or do not have, the
right to citizenship in the school community.
Refugee and immigrant children
There are children all over the world who are
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Manitoba ASCD
not recognized legally as citizens because of
their birthplace or the citizenship of their parents. These refugee and immigrant children
deserve the rights and responsibilities of citizens for many of the reasons listed previously, as confirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. However,
there are even more complexities involved
when a child is also a refugee or immigrant.
“Research has shown that little
attention has been given to the
experiences of refugee children
and asylum-seeking families
(Pinson and Arnot, 2007), including the impact that their ambiguous citizenship has on the
schools they attend.”
Research has shown that little attention has
been given to the experiences of refugee
children and asylum-seeking families (Pinson and Arnot, 2007), including the impact
that their ambiguous citizenship has on the
schools they attend. Little effort has been
given to making a connection with these students and the many threads connected to their
experiences of schooling and the “contemporary politics of multiculturalism, ‘race’ and
diversity” (Pinson and Arnot, 2007, p. 399).
There is a great amount of negative attention
given to asylum-seekers and refugees in the
UK, in contrast to the small amount of educational research available. One problem is that
‘asylum-seeking’ is seen as an adult problem,
not an educational policy-making one. Given
the last few years of curricular focus on global citizenship education, it is surprising to see
how little attention has been given to the phenomena of human mobility and the increase
2011
Manitoba ASCD
of cultural diversity in the classroom (Pinson
and Arnot, 2007).
and immigrant children, are very much citizens.
Pinson and Arnot (2007) argue that citizenship studies must spend some quality time on
the issue of migration and urge policy makers
that educational policies need to reflect the
needs of children and include their rights and
responsibilities as citizens in their communities. The idea of a global or national citizenship will look different to each civilization;
however, the voices of their citizens should
be given appropriate attention to ensure that
a holistic environment can be achieved. Children must participate in this evolving conversation on citizenship.
Refugee and immigrant children need to be
regarded, and regard themselves, as citizens complete and whole – because they embody
the very fabric of notions of what citizenship
confers in terms of rights and responsibilities
(Howe, 2005). There is much to be learned
for scholars and practitioners from the voices
and narratives of all children, as their impact
on local and international communities is
important and meaningful to an increasingly
global society.
nn
Concluding thoughts
While there are challenges for all children to
be included in many definitions of citizenship
there are even greater obstacles to full participatory citizenship for refugee and immigrant
children. These challenges begin with the fact
that their citizenship may be in question, relative to the adult perception of how any child
may participate in the duties of citizenship.
In the case of children, the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child legally
entrenched the rights and responsibilities to
participate in society according to their maturity and ability. With this in mind, Howe
(2005) argues that if we begin to see that a
child’s citizenship is differentiated - but not
lessened,- then we might be able to recognize
and accept that different groups, like refugee
References
Howe, B. (2005). Citizenship Education for
Child Citizens. Canadian and International Education, 34 (1), 42 – 49.
Lansdown, G. (2005). The evolving capacities of the child. Retrieved from The
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre at
http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/
pdf/evolving-eng.pdf
Pinson, H., & Arnot, M. (2007). Sociology of
education and the wasteland of refugee
education research. British Journal of
Sociology of Education, 28(3), 399-407.
Stephanie Yamniuk is a Ph.D. student and sessional instructor at the University of Manitoba, studying the
experiences of newcomer families in the schools that their elementary age children attend, as well as the
experiences of new teachers who have taught for three years or less. She has taught from grade one to the
university level, in Canada, in the US, and in Micronesia.
Page 47
2011
Manitoba ASCD
Spiritual Dimension of the Whole Child
Gary Babiuk, Assistant Professor Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba
In March 2007, during the annual conference
in Anaheim, California the Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development
(ASCD) launched a new initiative committed to improving the education of The Whole
Child. It also outlined The Learning Compact that stated, “The prevailing question is not about what children need
to succeed. The research is clear.
They need supportive environments that nurture their
social, emotional, physical,
ethical, civic, creative, and
cognitive
development.
The question becomes:
Who bears responsibility
for creating this environment?
The answer is: The whole community” (2007, p. 10).
This initiative and compact certainly
moved beyond the narrow academic achievement focus of children’s intellectual levels as
measured by standardized tests, under the influence of the No Child Left Behind policies.
Its measure of success- academic achievement- is a short-term goal, a point in time,
measurable and sometimes fleeting. On the
other hand a focus on the significance of what
is being learned and its relationship to the
whole child is a long-term goal and harder
to measure. Both are needed as measures of
success.
The focus on academic success over the last
few years has left education unbalanced. We
have sacrificed the long-term goals that are
significant for students such as their dreams,
Page 48
their gifts to the world, for short term learning success, higher test scores. The ASCD
initiative did turn the focus toward the needs
of the whole child, an attempt to balance our
success goals, but there seems to be an aspect
of the inner life of the child, the spiritual or
soulful, that is absent from this wider
focus.
It is interesting that ASCD
had focused on spirituality in education in its
1998/1999 edition of
Educational Leadership
entitled “The Spirit of
Education”. In that issue a
number of authors explored
spirituality and religion in education. One of the contributors to
that issue, Rachel Kessler (2000), indicates that although “the fears of integrating a spiritual dimension into the classroom
have not gone away” the
…editors [of Educational Leadership]
received a windfall of unsolicited manuscripts of outstanding quality and won a
Bronze Excel Award from the Society for
National Association Publication for the
issue. This journal has begun a long-overdue conversation that we can no longer
postpone-a rare open moment in our field
and in our culture to speak what has been
unspeakable for decades. (p. xiii)
It seems that ASCD has missed this opportunity to continue the dialogue about the “unspeakable”, the spiritual nature of children in
2011
The Whole Child initiative.
Although there is a focus on the emotional
aspect in the ASCD initiative, which according to Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional
Intelligence, is a crucial component of
determining how well children
learn, a more expansive view,
which would include the
spiritual or “inner” life of
the child is ignored. For
many this area has not
been included in educational discussions because it is seen as synonymous with religion, which
in the case of the United
States is not allowed through
the separation of church and state
in their constitution. In Canada, this wariness is not as obvious as there are a number of
church orientated schools that operate under
private / public school mandates. As well the
Association of Canadian Deans of Education
(ACDE) included the spiritual and moral in
their Accord on Initial Teacher Education in
the following principle: “An effective initial
teacher education program ensures that beginning teachers understand the development
of children and youth (intellectual, physical,
emotional, social, creative, spiritual, moral)
and the nature of learning.” Still the exploration of this controversial topic is ignored in
most Canadian educational policies. So what
do we mean by spirituality and its connection
to the inner life of the child?
James Moffett (1994) in his book Universal
Schoolhouse, explores both the secular and
sacred meaning of spirituality. The word in
a secular context has “… the sense of moral
or benevolent. In common parlance, spirited
people are simply full of live and of themPage 49
Manitoba ASCD
selves”, or it is expressed in the feelings of
team spirit or “esprit de core”(p. 18). In both
the secular and sacred sense it has to do with
morality, vitality, mind, energy, and wit. It is
the essence, “the immaterial” (pp. 18-19). He
suggests that there is a convergence of
the secular and sacred that warrants spirituality being addressed in education. “Even
in its most sacred sense,
spirituality does not depend on religion. Spirituality may be what all
religions share…” (p.
22). In Montgomery
Halford (1998) the author interviews Nel Noddings, who states,
Spirituality is an attitude or a way of life
that recognizes something we might call
spirit. Religion is a specific way of exercising that spirituality and usually requires
an institutional affiliation. Spirituality
does not require an institutional connection. (p. 29)
In his book The Element, Sir Ken Robinson
(2009) describes another aspect of the inner
life, what he calls “the element”. It is more
expansive than just creativity as he defines it
as ”… the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion” (p. 21). He also
states that “the element” is more than just
happiness or enjoyment but is when people
“…connect with something fundamental to
their sense of identity, purpose, and well-being. Being there provides a sense of self-revelation, of defining who they really are and
what they’re really meant to be doing with
their lives” (p. 21). All of these authors are
considering our inner life. This is the place
where we think, dream, and try to understand
2011
our place in the world and universe. These aspects of the human condition are not always
addressed in schools, as there is a fear of
bringing religion into a secular public school.
But no matter what we do, our children bring
this inner life with them into our classrooms,
just as they bring their emotions, thoughts,
and physical needs.
Manitoba ASCD
He advocates that we can still turn this modern trend around and assist our students to
develop a,
… being of body, soul, and spirit; a being
of interwoven intelligence, emotion, intention, and perception, all capable of infinite
growth and development. This, our full
human being, contains within itself the
resources for countering and transforming
all the forces that would reduce the human
to nonhuman (pp. 43-44).
As educators we need to review our policies,
programs, and images of children to ensure
we are fostering the development of their inner life.
It is this inner life that I believe has not been
addressed in the ASCD Whole Child initiative. Why is it so important? Parker Palmer
(1998) indicates that “spirituality – the human
quest for connectedness-is not something that
needs to be ‘brought into’ or ‘added onto’ the
curriculum. It is at the heart of every subject
we teach, where it waits to be brought forth”
(p. 8). Douglas Sloan (2005) suggests that
… our modern educational assumptions
and practices imply images of the child
and of the adult as essentially other than
human - merely an animal to be socialized,
a computer to be programmed, a unit of
production to be harnessed and utilized, a
consumer to be won…” (p. 27).
Page 50
If we can agree that the spiritual or inner life
of the child is an essential and inseparable aspect of educating the whole child, then ‘How
can we address it in our classrooms? How
can we provide a space in our schools and
classrooms that nurtures the inner life, the
spirituality of the child?’
There are a number of schools that have used
the nurturing of the soul and spirit of the child
as the focus of their school philosophy and
programs. Miller (2010) outlines how Waldorf and Montessori schools focus on the inner life of the child as central to their teaching
(pp. 46-48). He also devotes a whole chapter
describing a public school community in Toronto, The Whole Child School, that in 2007
created a school based on the ASCD Whole
Child initiative and a holistic curriculum (pp.
117-127). Reggio Emilia schools are an example of how to reach the inner life of the
child through the arts and connection to nature (Fu, Stremmel, & Hill, 2002). And there
are numerous other examples. But we can’t
always develop new schools or programs, so
2011
what can we do right now, in all our schools
to ensure the spirit and inner life of our students are honored? The following are some
suggestions for actions that we can initiate or
cultivate in our schools.
Nurturing Creativity
As Robinson (2009) outlines we need to honor and support our students’ unique talents
and create schools “…where every person
is inspired to grow creatively” (p. xiii). He
suggests that we need to guide our students
to find their “element” not only so the individual can flourish, but also our institutions
and communities. In schools we need to reexamine our understanding of intelligence and
how we assess it, “… we need to challenge
what we take for granted about our abilities
and the abilities of other people” (p. 30). Certainly creativity is not isolated in the arts but
expresses itself in all subjects and activities.
We need to consciously plan to assist students in expressing their inner life through
the creativity inherent in all aspects of the
school day.
“We need to consciously plan
to assist students in expressing
their inner life through the creativity inherent in all aspects of
the school day.”
Focusing on the Arts
An essential avenue to the creative center
of children is through the study and practice
of the arts. Arts programs are a fundamental
access to the inner life of our students (Kessler, 2000; Miller, 2000; Montgomery Halford, 1998; Moffett, 1993). In the Reggio
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Manitoba ASCD
Emila programs it is considered “The Hundred Languages of Children” and key to the
children’s expression of their knowing and
understanding (Fu, Stremmel, & Hill, 2002).
The integration of the arts into other subjects
is a powerful way to help children come to
understand the world and their place in it. All
forms of art are entry points to the inner life,
both as a creator and as a listener / observer
of music, poetry, drama / role playing / improvisation, creative writing, and visual arts
(Miller, 2000, pp. 75-91).
Aesthetic Learning Environment /
Experiences
Creating learning spaces that are aesthetic
and inspiring enhance student learning. This
can include surrounding ourselves and our
school buildings and classrooms with the
arts. It also includes allowing nature and the
natural cycles to permeate our learning spaces. The development of community gardens
in and around our schools in order that our
students actually touch the earth is one such
example (Miller, 2010, pp. 68-70). All of
these speak to and nurture a child’s inner life.
Meditation and Visualization
Visualization and guided imagery along
with creative writing and journaling have
long been used as activities that allow students to explore their inner life (Miller, 2000
pp. 49-64). Meditation is now being shown
through brain research and classroom practice as a way to allow students to access their
inner knowledge, reduce stress, come to an
understanding of emotional issues, support
mindfulness and concentration, and enhance
intellectual work (Miller, 2010). For those
that would not wish to use meditation, the
encouragement of using quiet reflection and
2011
silent spaces in our classrooms might be another alternative (Kessler, 2000).
Making connections
Providing opportunities for students to build
relationships and connections at many levels
is another way to speak to their inner life or
spirit. Connecting to the hopes and dreams,
passions and “the element” of each child is
crucial in developing a personal feeling of
self-worth. The exploration of the mind/body
connections is another way to assist children
in developing a healthy outlook on their lives
and a feeling of well being as a foundation for
their futures. The practicing of yoga, tai chi,
dance, and other physical activities is a natural access to this connection (Miller, 2010).
Connecting to others (including peers and
family and in particular, adult mentor[s] ) as
guides to exploring the inner life and finding
meaning to the important questions and issues of our lives is critical. Connecting with
and exploring nature and coming to some
understanding of our role in influencing the
earth’s cycles is vital to cultivating a sustainable lifestyle. Connecting to the community
and the wider world outside of school, not
just the learning community of the classroom, is another aspect of understanding and
exploring one’s purpose and role in society,
with service learning being one way to connect. (Miller, 2000; Montgomery Halford,
1998; Kessler, 2000; Suhor, 1998).
Service Learning
Service learning is a relatively new addition to
school curriculums and is part of an effort to
involve students in civic life. Krystal (1998)
points out that “service learning is a spiritual
affair in which the lines between the giver
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Manitoba ASCD
and receiver are often blurred” (p. 59). The
connection of students to their community
through service provides them an opportunity
to begin to see their role and responsibilities
in the wider world, and provides them with a
sense of self-worth. It develops compassion
and can be a transforming experience. These
are all aspects of the child’s inner life. “From
service learning programs, young people develop a sense of hope; they realize that they
have a place – and a future – in their world. In
short, service nurtures the soul” (p. 58).
Power of Experience
Suhor (1998) outlines how we can reach the
inner life of students through the power of experience. “We cannot directly transmit such
experiences, but we can often set the conditions for their occurrence in classrooms. Education is a sorry enterprise if we teach little
of what we ourselves acknowledge to be the
central and defining experiences in our lives”
(p. 14). The following are some examples of
these experiences: aesthetic, person-to-person contact, communing with nature, sensory
experience, ceremony and ritual, learning a
second language, and others. Formulaic or
step-by-step approaches are unlikely to generate the “… spark of new understanding.
Only a genuine atmosphere of inquiry will
allow students to relax sufficiently to think
adventurously and to take the risks that lead
to an authentic ‘Aha!’ experience” (p. 15).
We need to remind ourselves of the importance of our students’ experiences in schools
in their development as socially responsible
and empathic citizens.
The above suggested actions for providing
space and opportunity for our students to
explore their inner life are not meant to be
an exhaustive checklist but more to be used
2011
as guide posts to ensure we are moving in a
direction that honors the spirituality or inner
life of our students. They are indicators that
we are not just hoping that this inner work is
happening but ensuring that it flourishing.
“We need to slow down the process of education so that students can fall in love with learning and discover their place
in the world as they integrate
their intellectual, emotional,
and physical learning with their
heart, spirit, and soul.”
We need to transform schools into “scared
spaces”, but not in a religious sense but as
a place dedicated to the learning and development of the whole child. The fact that our
schools try to do too much, try to cover the
breadth of knowledge, leads to an uneven
and boring, lifeless curriculum. Schools are
expected to offer programs that deal with
competitive sports, business and work experience, health issues and a host of others,
what Kralovec (2003) calls the “sideshows
of education”. In order to create these sacred
spaces, we need to reconsider our use of time,
not just quantity but quality. To “unclutter”
our school time we need to create an environment that allows for in-depth study, creating
long-term relationships, and integrating critical topics of study with our student’s daily
lives. Key to this creation of “sacred spaces”
in schools is the partnership with the community who will partake as coaches, mentors and
educators in the education of our students.
We need to slow down the process of education so that students can fall in love with
learning and discover their place in the world
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Manitoba ASCD
as they integrate their intellectual, emotional,
and physical learning with their heart, spirit,
and soul.
Palmer (1998) indicates that he is not an advocate for state-sanctioned religion or any
imposition of religion in public school but
does advocate for the exploration of the spiritual dimension. As he states so eloquently
But I am equally passionate about not violating the deepest needs of the human soul,
which education does with some regularity. As a teacher, I have seen the price we
pay for a system of education so fearful of
things spiritual that it fails to address the
real issues of our lives - dispensing facts
at the expense of meaning, information
at the expense of wisdom. The price is a
school system that alienates and dulls us,
that graduates young people who have had
no mentoring in the questions that both enliven and vex the human spirit. (p. 6)
In our efforts to improve the achievement of
our students let us not forget the spiritual dimension. Let us all work together to ensure
that our students learn in a “spirited” learning community that provides time and space
for them to connect their inner lives to their
educational lives.
nn
References
ASCD Commission On The Whole Child
(2007). The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action. A Report of the
Commission On The Child. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD.
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Fu, Victoria R., Stremmel, Andrew J. & Hill,
Lynn T. (2002). Teaching and Learning: Collaborative Exploration of the Reggio
Emilia Approach. Columbus, OH: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Kessler, Rachael (2000). The Soul of Education. Helping Students Find Connection: Compassion, and Character at School.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Kessler, Rachael (1998). Nourishing Students in Secular Schools. Education Leadership, 56(4), pp. 49-52.
Kralovec, Etta (2003). Schools That Do
Too Much: Wasting Time and Money in
Schools and What We Can All Do About
It. Boston: Beacon Press.
Krystal, Sandra (1998). The Nurturing Potential of Service Learning. Education Leadership, 56(4), pp. 58-61.
Miller, John P. (2010). Whole Child Education. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press.
Miller, J. P., Karsten, S., Denton, D., Orr, D.,
& Colalillo Kates, I. (Eds.). (2006). Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education. Breaking New Ground. Albany, NY:
State University of New York Press.
Manitoba ASCD
Albany, NY: State University of New
York Press.
Miller, John P. (1998). Making Connections
Through Holistic Learning. Education Leadership, 56(4), pp. 46-48.
Moffett, James (1994). The Universal
Schoolhouse: Spiritual Awakening
Through Education. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, Inc.
Montgomery Halford, Joan (1998). Longing
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Leadership, 56(4), pp. 28-32.
Palmer, Parker J. (1998). Evoking the Spirit
in Public Education. Education Leadership, 56(4), pp. 6-11.
Robinson, Ken (2009). The Element: How
finding your passion changes everything. New York: Penguin Books.
Sloan, Douglas (2005) Education and the
Modern Assault on Being Human:
Nurturing Body, Soul, and Spirit. In J. P.
Miller, S. Karsten, D. Denton, D. Orr &
I. Colalillo Kates (Eds.), Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education. Breaking New Ground (pp. 27-45). Albany,
NY: State University of New York Press.
Miller, John P. (2000). Education and the
Soul: Toward a Spiritual Curriculum.
Gary Babiuk has been an educator for 35 years as a teacher, principal, and teacher educator in Alberta,
Ontario, Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba. He currently works in the Department of
Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning, Faculty of Education, at the University of Manitoba. His research
interests include holistic learning and spirituality in education, integrated and inquiry learning, and education for sustainable living.
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2011
Manitoba ASCD
Education for Sustainable Development
at Landmark Collegiate
Greg Sawatzky, Vice Principal, Landmark Collegiate, Hanover School Division
As part of Landmark Collegiate’s school
plan, the month of April has been dedicated
as Education for Sustainable Development
(ESD) month.
Two years ago, LCI ( Landmark Collegiate)
staff organized an intense week of activities,
workshops and presentations
for students to generate an
awareness of ESD issues.
Last year, outside personnel and organizations were
brought in to work with staff
and students to build on what
had been started the previous
year. The ESD committee on
staff met with Anne MacDiarmid, Sustainable Development Consultant for Manitoba Education. A group of
students formed an Eco Club and met with
Climate Change Connection http://www.climatechangeconnection.org/). They discussed
ways for students to connect with other ESD
organizations, how to be leaders and work effectively as a group, as well as how to develop some ESD projects and initiatives for LCI.
The ESD month began with a high spirited
presentation to the LCI student body led by
the grade 12 World Issues class. Their presentation emphasized that ESD involved the interrelationships of the environment, the economy, and the health of society. They played
a video which they produced titled “Enough
for All Forever”. The assembly closed with
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the video “The Story of Stuff” (http://www.
storyofstuff.com/).
Environmental Issues were addressed
through “action” activities that involved recognizing Earth Hour, where the hydro was
shut down for one hour during the school
day. The staff and students
participated in a community clean-up, and, as always,
there were some interesting
finds. The Eco Club collected all the recycled paper
for a month to draw attention to the amount of paper
that is used in our building.
A presentation to the grade
11’s titled “Fat Lake” from
Seine and Rat River Conservation drew attention to
the history and health of the Seine River, the
local diversion, and Lake Winnipeg.
A major component in developing the ESD
theme of social well-being has come from
the work by the students involved in Rachel’s
Challenge. A presenter from the Rachel’s
Challenge organization spent a day working with LCI students helping them generate
ideas on developing social equality and promoting kindness. As well, MTYP (Manitoba
Theatre for Young People) presented “Getting Over Romeo” to the grade 9 and 10 students, which focused on youth relationships,
family issues and social struggles. The grade
7’s, through their Social Studies class, hosted
2011
a variety of fundraisers for charities of their
choice.
The senior high philanthropy group, through
the Loewen Foundation, began enhancing the
social well-being of those outside our school
community. They held a sock hop to gather
much needed socks for the Main Street Project in Winnipeg. As well, they raised additional funds, which were then matched by the
Loewen Foundation, to support the efforts
made by the House of Hesed, an organization
providing comfort to those in Winnipeg suffering from AIDS.
To enhance the ESD theme of personal wellness the staff held its annual school breakfast
on Earth Day. The Physical Education department produced a PowerPoint presentation that included a quiz on nutrition facts.
Prizes were lunch bags made from recycled
juice containers. Efforts were made to buy
locally grown products and in the end students recycled their waste or discarded them
in compost.
Manitoba ASCD
One of the most successful events was a
Swap Meet organized by the Eco Club. Students and staff traded items from home that
they no longer needed. One person’s junk
became another’s treasure. All leftover items
where sold off with proceeds going to charity. To promote the idea of reducing personal
consumption, the grade 10 Geography Class
bought gently-used clothing at The Steinbach
MCC Store and held a fashion show.
In between all the outside classroom activities many teachers made efforts inside their
classroom to highlight the ESD connections
that are built within the curriculum. A number of creative ideas were developed that
encouraged students to be actively involved
in the various themes of sustainable development, all of which will help move LCI from
the “awareness” level to the “action” level in
the Eco Globe Recognition Program.
nn
Canadian Perspectives: Education Coast to Coast to Coast
Visit the online peer-reviewed continuous edition
journal of ASCD Canadian Education network
(ASCD-CEN). The purpose of the journal is to
enhance communication among the members of
ASCD-CEN and to promote dialogue about uniquely Canadian practices, policies, and perspectives.
The journal targets educators, who are interested
in pre K-12 education in Canada, particularly with
regard to teaching, leading, and learning.
* Log onto http://canadianperspectivesjournal.ca
To learn more about how you can contribute!
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2011
Manitoba ASCD
Social Justice
Hannah Wiebe, Landmark Collegiate, Grade 12 Student
Along with several staff and students from
the Hanover School Division, I had the privilege of attending a truly world-class education conference on the subject of social justice from November 18-19, 2010. Together
we took part in numerous
sessions and lectures with
speakers such as Dr. Stephen Lewis of the Stephen
Lewis Foundation, and
the founder of TakingITGlobal, Jennifer Correrio.
Over the course of the two
days, we heard from many
inspiring speakers who informed us of a wide array of
social justice issues around
the world, and provided suggestions on how we as individuals and a division could get involved. For me however,
the most meaningful part of the conference
wasn’t the lectures, but rather the interactions I was able to have with other students
attending from across the province. I was
able to hear many personal stories of how
Manitoban students are being affected by
social justice issues around the globe. Regardless of the nature of specific issues,
every student I spoke with had something
that they were passionate about promoting, changing, or educating others about.
In my interactions with these students, I was
shocked by the broad range of topics that
concern Manitoba youth, and I realized how
little I have been affected by most of these issues in my own school, simply due to the size
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and composition of the school community.
Not having the diversity that a larger school
has, many of the students at LCI (Landmark
Collegiate),including myself, do not know
very much about other cultures, lifestyles, and
the social justice issues
stemming from them. It’s
not that we don’t want
to be more informed and
involved; a bigger factor
in our naivety is that the
issues just aren’t a reality in daily school life.
So, how can we change
this? In order to compensate for the general lack
of diversity at LCI, which
often results in ignorant
behavior and speech from students, we need
to make up for the lost ground somehow. The
remedy for the ignorance in my own life has
proved to be a two-step process; you begin
by opening yourself up to have a meaningful
experience, which will then inspire you to investigate more deeply what the issues are and
what you can do to help. This might begin
by becoming a volunteer at a soup kitchen or
drop-in centre, or joining a community service group. Experiences like these are able
to inspire people to investigate in a way that
sitting in a lecture cannot- they allow a personal connection to be made to the issues.
As soon as things get personal, they tend to
become important and worth investigating.
And what better place to encourage this process than in schools! Schools today are of-
2011
ten a student’s primary community; they
are the place that often shapes a student’s
opinions, sense of compassion, and social skills the most. For this reason, I think
school should be the place where we begin
to draw attention to issues and provide students with opportunities for meaningful experiences both within school walls and in
the greater community. If we do so, I think
that LCI students will be students who want
to become compassionate, informed, contributing members of society. After consistently having experiences that deeply move
them, what student could remain ignorant?
NEW FROM ASCD
The Understanding By Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units by Jay McTighe
and Grant Wiggins (ASCD book, 2011) 119
pages
Teaching Boys Who Struggle in School:
Strategies That Turn Underachievers into
Successful Learners by Kathleen Cleveland (ASCD book, 2011) 232 pages
Effective Supervision: Supporting the Art
and Science of Teaching Robert Marzano, David
Livingston, Tony Frontier (ASCD book, 2011)
185 pages
The Sights and Sounds of Equitable Practices
(ASCD DVD, 2011) 45 min.
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Manitoba ASCD
nn
2011
Manitoba ASCD
Beginning an ASCD Student Chapter
by Starting with Year Two
Dr. Jerome Cranston, ASCD Student Chapter Advisor, University of Manitoba, and
Ms. Mary Jane MacLennan, Student Leader
In May 2010, ASCD International officially
sanctioned Manitoba’s first ASCD Student
Chapter. We would love to say that the story
of its formation was one of unwavering visionary leadership and initiative on our part,
but more truthfully, it has been a challenging
undertaking. Yet through the process of establishing the Student Chapter at the University
of Manitoba we have come to
understand and appreciate the
chapter’s potential to become a
dynamic learning network for
our teacher candidates.
with the idea of forming an ASCD Student
Chapter. Brenda had done her homework and
seemed to be aware that Jerome might have
difficulty saying ‘no’ to persuasive and passionate arguments. While she did not promise that the world would be infinitely better
if a Student Chapter was formed,
she did offer that a Chapter
might prove to be a valuable
opportunity for teacher candidates to connect to the wider
professional network that
Manitoba’s ASCD affiliate
offered.
It would be disingenuous and
maybe even downright dishonest to suggest that the idea
to create an ASCD Student
Chapter for the Faculty of
Education, first came from a
committed group of students
supported by an insightful academic. But, as
we write this we are both keenly aware that
in the fantastical land of Playfulness, much
like the character Pinocchio, we would have
to accept the donkey ears that come with such
untruth. In actual fact, the impetus for the
Student Chapter came from the Board of Directors of Manitoba ASCD, especially in the
commitment and pleasant pestering by one of
its Past-Presidents, Ms. Brenda Lanoway.
It was hard to disagree with
her but it took almost the
entire 2009-10 academic
year to fully appreciate
what needed to be done to
launch an ASCD Student
Chapter. Who would have
thought that the rules required the creation
and adoption of a constitution, which included providing the name of the Student Chapter
Leader before the official sanctioning of the
Student Chapter by ASCD International? It
was a slightly daunting task: Jerome needed
to convince someone to officially stand as the
leader of an organization that did not exist.
In the autumn of 2009, Brenda approached
Jerome Cranston, a recent addition to the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education,
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However, by April 2010 Ms. Laurie Anne
Vermette, a Year Two teacher candidate in the
Middle Years Stream, had agreed to become
an ASCD member and be listed as the Chapter’s leader. This act of faith allowed Laurie
2011
Anne and Jerome, with Brenda’s support, to
draft a Student Chapter Constitution, ratify
it and forward it to ASCD International. In
May, the University of Manitoba, Faculty of
Education ASCD Student Chapter was approved.
Based on the success - loosely defined, as we
like to do in education - of the previous year,
it was decided in September 2010 by the Faculty Advisor and his newly commandeered
Student Leader, Ms. Mary Jane MacLennan
(again a Year Two teacher candidate), that
there should be two meetings for the Chapter in 2010-2011. We just weren’t sure how
we would be able to get already busy teacher
candidates to these meetings.
Ms. Barb Isaak, the President of Manitoba
ASCD, accepted our invitation to attend the
October meeting and, over lunch, shared with
the group of about 15 teacher candidates some
insight gained from professional experience
in disciplining students with dignity, which
was the theme for this meeting, and taken
from the title of the 2009 ASCD book, Disciplining with Dignity, 3rd edition, by Curwin,
Allen and Mendler. The prospective teachers were grateful to hear from someone with
Barb’s broad and deep experience. Based on
feedback, it was clear that the Chapter should
continue to include the earned wisdom of
practitioners in its meeting format.
By the time a second meeting was held in
February of 2011, Mary Jane had created a
wikispace presence for the Student Chapter at
https://umedascdstudentchapter.wikispaces.
com. After unsuccessful attempts to coordinate a date and time to host a second practicing educator, a less formal meeting was held
where the eight students present gave suggestions on possible ways to grow the Student
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Manitoba ASCD
Chapter into a useful resource for Year One
and Two teacher candidates.
At the meeting, the students were asked,
“What would be the most useful things to
discuss for next year’s Student Chapter members?” Here are some of the topics they said
they’d like discussed in future lunch meetings:
• Themes around the transition from being
a candidate to becoming a teacher.
• How to be a productive substitute teacher
who gets invited back, and maybe gets
the “nod” for a job one day?
• The “professional dip” that leads to people either burning out or exiting the profession after only a few years of teaching.
• Where are the teaching jobs out there?
• Should I teach in Kuwait? The pros and
cons of the exotic international teaching
contract.
• How do teacher pension plans work; and
how did Ontario teachers get such a good
deal?
• What’s it like to teach in a First Nations
school?
• Do we really need to have a portfolio for
life outside these hallowed walls?
• Practical ways to help an English as an
Additional Language student.
• How does the concept of restitution work
in schools?
• Finding ways to let second-year candidates know what “due dates” are for such
things as: applying to substitute lists and
certification documents, and insight into
the employment application process.
We think we can claim this is an active Chapter by anyone’s standards. And, we will let
the facts speak for themselves because we
started out in year one with only one Chapter
2011
member and a Faculty Advisor. By the end of
year two the Student Chapter had become a
fluid group of about 8-15 teacher candidates
that easily remediated any doubts about the
chapter’s viability.
The immediate future challenge for the Student Chapter will be to find ways to recruit
new members, specifically from Year One,
into an on-campus organization that is mean-
Manitoba ASCD
ingful to its members; a dynamic learning
network that is energizing but does not become “yet another” exhausting pre-professional obligation; and, one that is open to the
great possibilities that exist for people who
are committed to being excellent teachers.
It’s a pretty lofty vision, but it seems like the
correct one.
nn
Manitoba ASCD Announces
The Action Research Grant Fund
What is it?
Manitoba ASCD is delighted to announce the creation of a new funding opportunity for Manitoba schools. The Action Research Grant Fund is designed to support
teachers and schools at any grad level who want to explore new pedagogies, models,
or initiatives that can improve student learning. Successful applicant (s) may access
up to a total of $2000 to support qualitative or quantitative action research projects.
Who Can Apply?
The Action Research Grant is available to any teacher or team of teachers working
in a Manitoba school. The applicant or at least one member of the project team must
be a member of Manitoba ASCD. Approval is required from your school division.
Where do you get an applicant form?
You can learn more about the Action Research Grant Fund and download an application form from http://www.mbascd.ca.
What is the deadline for applications?
The deadline for submission of completed applications is August 31, 2011.
LEARN • TEACH • LEAD
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2011
Manitoba ASCD
Re-Imagining High School: Supporting
Youth in High Poverty Contexts
Sheila Giesbrecht, Student Success Consultant, Manitoba Education
Working as a high school teacher in Chicago’s inner city, I became quickly aware that
there was a difference in schools within my
primarily Mexican American community. I
noticed that the large neighbourhood high
school had a dropout rate of over 60% while a
smaller alternative high school had a dropout
rate of under 30%. I noticed student engagement and success within both the large high
school and the alternative high school model.
However, I also noticed a lack of success
within other schools within both systems. I
began to wonder “What is the difference?”.
Why are some schools successful in supporting students; helping students to graduate and
move on to productive citizenry, while other
schools had exorbitant dropout rates with
systemic problems spilling into the community? I began to wonder if there was a “silver bullet” in supporting student success and
what was it?
In 2008 I completed a comprehensive literature review (Giesbrecht, 2008) examining what makes a difference surrounding
academic outcomes for children and youth
within low socio-economic communities. To
complete this review I examined academic literature, analyzed key components of schools
and programs “making a difference” for children and youth within low income communities and examined theoretical perspectives
forwarded by leading researchers within the
area. From this review it became quickly
evident that schools and programs that made
a difference for low income students focused
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on all or at least four of the following six domains;
1. School Readiness: Children from different socio-economic classes come to
school with different levels of physical,
social/ emotional and language/cognition experiences and capacities. Children
from lower socio-economic homes may
have fewer experiences in terms of extracurricular activities, family resources and
2011
supportive family structures. Supporting
School Readiness involves developing experiences in which children from low socio-economic communities can “catch up”
on foundational skills that children within
wealthier communities have had the opportunity to develop. These may include
literacy projects, exposure to enrichment
experiences and development of children’s
social/emotional capacities.
2. Student Capacity: Students within
low income contexts may face additional
pressures including community violence,
decreased exposure to enrichment experiences, nutritional and health issues,
etc. Students from lower socio-economic
homes may also have fewer experiences
and/or access to academic and social supports which are more readily available in
mid and high income homes. Supporting
Student Capacity involves helping students
be emotionally, physically and cognitively
ready for school. Projects that support
student capacity may include the development of school transition camps, summer
learning loss programs, after-school programs, mentorship programs, etc.
3. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment: A variety of studies indicate that students within low socio-economic communities face a variety of additional academic
limitations in terms of curriculum, instruction and assessment within the classroom.
Some of these limitations include; an increased incidence of scripted instruction
(Giesbrecht, 2008), decreased academic
opportunities, diminished teacher capacity (Hattie, Haycock), increased summer
learning loss (Gladwell) and over-identification for special education. Supporting
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
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Manitoba ASCD
involves helping schools to focus on rigorous and authentic curriculum, instruction and assessment in order to support
enhanced student achievement. Projects
that focus on culturally relevant pedagogies, integrated curriculum, authentic
assessment and innovative pedagogies
(place-based, inquiry, project, etc.) support this domain.
4. Instructional and Leadership Capacity: Studies indicate that students within
American low income communities may
be taught by educators with less experience and fewer teaching skills and capacities (Hattie, Haycock, Darling Hammond).
Supporting Instructional and Leadership
Capacity involves developing teacher
and administrator capacities through professional learning and transformational
growth. Projects that support Instructional and Leadership Capacity could include
whole school professional learning foci,
book clubs, teacher mentorships and focused learning plans.
5. Family and Community Partnerships:
As mentioned earlier, students from low
socio-economic communities may face
additional pressures within their private,
family and community lives. Students
from lower socio-economic homes may
have less access to the supports that could
mitigate the ill effects of these pressures.
Supporting Family and Community Relationships is built on the idea that connections between the student, the family
and the community serve to strengthen
supports for students. Examples of projects focused on Family and Community
Partnerships include Community Schools
Models, mentorship programs, apprenticeship programs, community consultation
2011
procedures, family rooms with schools
and parent involvement in school programming.
6. Organization and Governance: Supporting effective Organization and Governance is built on the idea that cohesive
school programming, vision, policies, curricular and program planning, and use of
data supports enhanced school functioning. Schools that function well are able
to better support student achievement.
Examples of effective Organization and
Governance may include developing early warning systems for student referrals,
aligning discipline policies with community cultural norms, developing organizational orientations and using data to inform practice.
As I completed this study I faced disappointment. Somehow I had expected a “silver bullet” to emerge that would definitively indicate
why some schools were successful in supporting students within low socio-economic
contexts. In reviewing the list of what makes
a difference in terms of student success, it
became quickly apparent that what makes
a difference for students within low income
contexts makes a difference for students
within all socio-economic contexts. My list
of “best-practices” to support students within low socio-economic contexts was simply a
list of what makes for good education.
As I looked more closely at schools that
make a difference in terms of student success, it become evident that schools within
low socio-economic contexts took a variety
of approaches to working with their students.
Some schools focused on interventions, addon programs, alternative or pull out programs.
Others applied success frameworks (such as
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Manitoba ASCD
Response to Intervention frameworks) or
frameworks developed as whole school models (MET Schools, 90-90-90 Schools, etc.)
within other contexts. Finally, some schools
focused on alignment of programming, mission, and professional learning as a methodology for supporting student success within
their specific context.
Diagram: What makes for good education
Examination of the approaches used by
schools within low socio-economic contexts
(Giesbrecht 2008), indicates that it is how domains are integrated that makes the difference
in terms of supporting students within low
socio-economic contexts. As schools move
to increasingly sophisticated approaches and
alignment across all the best practice domains
the capacity for student success increases. As
schools move towards more “interventionist”
approaches and decreased alignment across
the best practice domains (or focus on fewer
best practice domains), the capacity for student success diminishes.
There is a wonderful school called the Social
Justice Academy in the inner-city Mexican
2011
American Community of Little Village in
Chicago. This school grew out of community protest over inequitable allocation of
resources to inner-city high schools. After a
controversial hunger strike in 2008, the Chicago Board of Education agreed to build a
new high school within this inner-city community. Sensing the strength of their collaborative effort, educators, students, parents
and community members worked to design
a school that was aligned with their struggle
for social justice and educational equity. The
school (given the unique possibility of starting with a fresh slate) worked to develop integrated approaches across the best practice
domains outlined above. Student Capacity
and authentic Curriculum and Instruction are
facilitated through culturally relevant curriculum with a focus on social justice and the
idea of responsible citizenry. School Organization and Governance is designed around
core “social justice principles” that are used
to guide student discipline policies, professional learning experiences and school projects. The orienting principle of social justice serves as the corner stone of curricular
projects and integrated curriculum. Parent
and community partnerships are developed
through an alignment with the social justice
and community concerns of the inner-city
Mexican American Community from which
it was conceived. Today, students graduating from Lawndale’s Social Justice Academy
face higher than average academic outcomes
despite the pressing community issues facing
an inner-city context. The how of how the
domains are applied becomes the important
factor in promoting the success of students in
this context.
As educators we try hard to meet the needs
of our students. We care deeply for our students, especially those who face additional
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Manitoba ASCD
socio-economic barriers to success. While an
intervention or project that has been successful within a different context becomes appealing, the common-sense offered through
the six best-practice domains reminds us of
the importance of the work we are already
doing. Perhaps reaching the whole child
does not involve doing something new or
something innovative. Perhaps it merely involves doing what we are already doing...just
a little bit better. Perhaps it involves aligning
our work, making our work just a bit deeper,
eliminating some programs that take our time
but don’t really make that much sense, re-examining our priorities and eliminating those
that don’t help our schools to be more cohesive and functional. Perhaps reaching the
whole child involves becoming involved in
the deep work of systemic growth and change
as learners, educators and communities.
nn
References
Gladwell, M. (2002). The tipping point:
How little things can make a big difference. New York, NY: Little Brown and
Company.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning. New
York, NY: Routledge Publishing.
Haycock, K. (1998). Good teaching
matters…a lot. Washington, DC: The
Education Trust
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manitoba-ASCD
2011
Manitoba ASCD
ASCD Canadian Education
Network 2010-2011 Report
Shelley Hasinoff, Coordinator of Independent Education Unit, Manitoba Education
ASCD-CEN has enjoyed amazing growth in
active membership this year as a result of a
number of exciting initiatives and meetings
in which members learn and work together.
In the coming year, ASCD-CEN looks forward to creating a variety of new and enriching opportunities for Canadian educators to
share their experiences and ideas.
Tom Code , Past President, Manitoba
ASCD with Shelley Hasinoff
Online Conversions
Leaders from each of the constituencies have
been meeting online regularly this year to
plan events and to share information about
what is happening in their part of Canada.
With the support of ASCD and our membership we were also able to conduct a series of
cross-Canada conversations on high school
assessment using Talking About Assessment:
High School Strategies and Tools by Damian
Cooper as an anchor text. We were delighted
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to have Damian join these discussions and to
guide our thinking about this complex topic.
Canadian Perspectives: Education
Coast to Coast to Coast
We launched our online peer-reviewed journal, Canadian Prespectives: Education Coast
to Coast to Coast, in January. The journal
can be accessed from our website or from
http://www.canadianperspecativesjournal.ca.
Authors are encouraged to submit articles
that promote a dialogue about educational
practices, policies, and perspectives that are
uniquely Canadian. Articles will be peer-reviewed and once accepted will be uploaded
as they are publication-ready. The Editorial
Board consists of the following Canadian
educators;
• Dr. Shelley Hasinoff, Coordinator, Independent Education Unit, Manitoba (coeditor)
• Dr. Nancy Maynes, Nipissing University
Schulich School of Education, Ontario
• Dr. Lynn Thomas, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec
• Dr. David Mandzuk, Associate Dean,
Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba
• Ms. Barb Isaak, Assistant Superintendent, River-East-Transcona School Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba President of
Manitoba ASCD, Director, Manitoba Association of School Superintendents
• Dr. Karen Goodnough, Associate Dean,
2011
Undergraduate Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Dr. Thomas Falkenberg, University of
Manitoba
2011 ASCD Annual Conference
Thanks to our many volunteers and generous sponsors, ASCD-CEN had an outstanding Annual Conference in San Francisco this
year. Pictures of the Annual Conference 2011
are posted on our website in the Gallery. Canadians attended in record numbers this year
and many enjoyed the following highly successful ASCD-CEN events:
Manitoba ASCD
Wine and Cheese Social
On the Saturday evening, over a hundred
members and their guests enjoyed our first
annual Wine and Cheese Social, sponsored
by Nelson Education Ltd. This event gave
members an opportunity to meet colleagues
from across Canada in an informal setting.
Welcome Reception
Volunteers from every constituency ensured
that there was always someone at our Professional Interest Community table at the
opening Welcome Reception on Friday night
to greet delegates. Visitors received Canadian flag and provincial ASCD pins, Newfoundland candy, Canadian ASCD journals,
ASCD-CEN bookmarks and brochures, and a
list of all the Canadian presenters and events
at the conference.
AGM
Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) was
scheduled as a working lunch on Saturday
to avoid conflicting with conference sessions
and was generously sponsored by Pearson
Canada. Our well-attended AGM reviewed
our Professional Interest Community’s accomplishments to date and discussed the results of our recent survey. You can review
the results of this survey, completed by 138
members from across Canada, on the website
under Professional Learning.
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Wine and Cheese Social sponsored by
Nelson Education Ltd.
Network Forum
Our Network Forum: Using Powerful Online Conversations to Change High School
Assessment was presented by Pepi Kotsalis
(BC), Jackie Hagel (SK) and Shelley Hasinoff (MB). Attendees learned how our
online conversations with Damian Cooper
moved from shared concerns to shared purpose to shared knowledge to help us change
assessment practices in our constituencies.
Leader to Leader (L2L)
Leaders of provincial affiliates and Connected Communities attended L2L in July 2010
just outside of Washington, DC. This summer
conference is organized by ASCD to train the
leaders of various ASCD constituent groups,
2011
including state and provincial affiliates (e.g.,
Manitoba ASCD), Connected Communities,
Professional Interest Communities (PIC),
and Student Chapters. L2L provides ASCDCEN with a valuable opportunity to meet and
to get to know ASCD staff. It was evident
in face to face and online meetings this year
with ASCD staff, that the Canadian presence
at L2L provided a distinct and positive contribution to the sessions. ASCD-CEN constituency leaders will once again meet at L2L
to demonstrate our commitment to developing a greater Canadian presence in ASCD.
Webinars
Damian Cooper generously delivered our
first webinar, Assessment for Learning: Are
We Losing Ground? On December 9, 2010.
Damian used participants’ questions about
formative assessment to frame his remarks
and answered questions posed during the
session. If you missed this webinar you can
still access it from the website where it is archived under Webinars. Based on the results
of our survey and our AGM, we anticipate
strong support for holding future webinars
with other Canadian educators. Those who
cannot attend the webinars will be able to access archived sessions from the website and
discuss them in a forum set up for viewers’
comments.
ASCD Annual Conference 2012
The 2012 ASCD Annual Conference will be
held in Philadelphia from March 24 to 26,
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Manitoba ASCD
2012. Based on the results of our survey and
the theme of the conference, we have chosen
21st Century Learning as the topic of our
Network Forum.
ASCD-CEN
ASCD Canadian Education Network (ASCD
CEN) is a Professional Interest Community
of ASCD which is a value-added benefit of
membership in provincial affiliates (Alberta,
British Columbia, Manitob and Ontario) and
Connected Communities (Atlantic Provinces
and Saskatchewan). ASCD-CEN also includes ASCD members from Quebec and the
United States.
ASCD-CEN was initiated by a group of interested educators from across Canada to:
• increase dialogue about educational issues among Canadian ASCD members
• raise the profile of Canadian educators in
the ASCD community
• advocate educational practices that enhance student and professional learning
To find out more, visit our website at http://
ca.ascd.ca or our ASCD Edge group at http://
groups.ascd.org/groups/detail/112951/canadian-education-network/
nn
2011
Manitoba ASCD
UPCOMING SPEAKERS - please mark your calendars
•
MANITOBA ASCD PRESENTS
Pat Wolfe • October 6, 2011 • 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Brain Matters: Translating Research into Practice
Brain research is constantly providing new revelations about how the brain works and
how we all learn. While many current educational practices fit well with the research,
others run counter to what we are learning and pose significant challenges to those
who work in schools. This interactive session will provide a clear explanation of the
most educationally significant research developments and will involve participants in
activities to show how the research can be translated into everyday practice.
Heidi Hayes Jacobs • February 16, 2012 • 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Schools As Launching Pads to the Future
Heidi Hayes Jacobs will share ideas and strategies from her ASCD book, Curriculum
21, to show participants how they can upgrade dated curriculum content, employ new
literacies, and consider new school structures, to provide a more engaging school
experience and better prepare our learners for their future.
Avis Glaze • May 3, 2012 • 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Sudent Achievement: A Focus on Leadership
This interactive workshop will demonstrate that we can, indeed, improve schools by
creating a supportive environment with a strong focus on capacity building and characterized by respect for the professionalism of educators. It will address key issues
such as:
• Using qualitative and quantitative data to improve achievement
• Focusing on the high impact strategies that improve learning
• Improving schools in challenging circumstances
• Ensuring that poverty, immigrant or ESL status, and other characteristics,
do not determine students’ destiny
• Garnering public confidence through a graduation guarantee
* For more information visit our web site at www.mbascd.ca, or
* Contact Paulette by email at [email protected] or by phone at 204-510-7271.
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2011
Manitoba ASCD
REFLECTIONS 2012
Call for Submission of Articles
The Reflections journal provides a forum
for the exchange of current theory, research
and classroom practice, as well as the release of news of particular interest to Manitoba educators at all levels.
•
•
If you are interested in sharing research you
have conducted, telling us about your experiences in the classroom, or explaining your
views of complex issues and the solutions
you have found to address problems shared
by others in your position, we would like to
hear from you.
Please review the theme and the Submission Guidelines below and contact our editor for any clarification you may require.
Short submissions on classroom
ideas, letters to the editor, book reviews
and graphics are always welcome.
Submission Guidelines
•
•
•
All contributions may be submitted electronically to [email protected].
Articles can range from 1000-1500
words 4-6 pages in length. Shorter submissions are also welcome.
Please be sure to include:
• Title of the article
• Aurthor’s full name
• Position and place of employment
• Mailing address
• Phone number
• FAX number (if available)
• Email address (if available)
• 2-3 sentances about the background
of the author(s)
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•
•
for articles, pages should be numbered
consecutively, including the bibliography.
APA (5.0) style is required for all in-text
citations and the bibliography. Canadian
usage and spelling is required.
Charts, pictures or illustrative materials
are encouraged, but will be included on
the basis of quality and availability of
space. Such materials should be sent
as separate files and must be camera
ready.
Authors are expected to take full responsibility for the accuracy of the content
in their articles, including references,
quotations, tables and figures.
All articles will be reviewed by our Editorial Board and authors will be contacted
regarding requests for clarification or
revision.
Journal Theme for 2012
Educating Students
in a Changing World
Deadline for written submissions:
March 15, 2012
For more information, contact:
Brenda Lanoway, Editor
[email protected]
Phone: 204-261-0915
2011
Manitoba ASCD
2012 Theme: Educating Students in a Changing World
As educators in the 21st century, we
are charged with educating students to
be successful in a complex, interconnected world. This responsibility requires schools to prepare students for
technological, cultural, economic, informational, and demographic changes.
ASCD supports changes in teaching, learning, and leadership that adequately prepare students for the 21st
century and graduate students who:
•
Acquire and apply core knowledge
and critical-thinking skill sets that
are essential in an information age;
•
Demonstrate creativity, innovation,
and flexibility when partnering with
business and community members
to advance common goals;
•
Make decisions and solve problems ethically and collaboratively;
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•
Utilize technology to gather, analyze, and synthesize information
for application in a global economy;
•
Exhibit positive interpersonal relationships that value multiple languages, cultures, and all persons;
and
•
Display leadership skills that inspire others to achieve, serve, and
work together.
ASCD POLICY POSITIONS
as viewed online at www.ascd.org
Since its beginning in 1943, ASCD has
been a strong voice in the debate about
educational issues that affect learning
and teaching. As a non-partisan education association, ASCD continues to
advocate for policies and practices that
ensure each child has access to educational excellence and equity.
2011
Manitoba ASCD
Members of Manitoba ASCD enjoy the following benefits:
•
•
•
•
attend high quality professional learning at reduced rates
receive Manitoba ASCD newsletters and Reflections Journal
network with Manitoba educators across disciplines
participate in a members’ forum at www.mbascd.ca
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
NAME __________________________________________________________________
SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION____________________DIVISION ______________________
HOME ADDRESS________________________________CITY/TOWN_______________
POSTAL CODE____________________
POSITION__________________________
BUSINESS PHONE ________________
HOME PHONE ______________________
FAX ____________________________
E-MAIL _____________________________
_________________________________
__________________________________________
SIGNATURE
DATE
Manitoba ASCD automatically enrolls you as a member of the ASCD Canadian Education Network at no
extra cost. This new ASCD network is dedicated to sharing information for and by Canadian educators. If
you do not wish to become a member put an x in the box below.
No
join ASCD CANADIAN EDUCATION NETWORK
No, would
I wouldnot
not like
like to join

MEMBERSHIP FEE ENCLOSED $30.00 ___
Annual fees are renewable on the anniversary date of membership. Please make cheque payable to
Manitoba ASCD and send to:
Secretary, Manitoba ASCD
PO Box 69027
Winnipeg MB R3P 2G9
For further information contact: Paulette at 510-7271 or [email protected]
Membership form and online payment options are available online at http://www.mbascd.ca/membership.cfm
The collection of personal information will be used strictly for internal Manitoba ASCD purposes. It is protected by the
Protection of Privacy Act.
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